The Missing Hokage: Rise of the Shōkan ō
by BigCC
Summary: After managing to stop Sasuke's attempted desertion in the Valley of the End, Naruto's life changes. When the council banishes the blonde they'll soon learn why no one should anger a woman, especially a Sannin, My take on PL's 'Missing Hokage' challenge
1. The Beginning at the End

**The Missing Hokage**

**Note:** This is my attempt at the "Missing Hokage Challenge" offered by _Perfect Lionheart_. I've read a large number of the stories submitted for this challenge and have liked most of them, so now I'm going to attempt my own.

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning at the End**

_(The Valley of the End)_

"**RASENGAN**"

"**CHIDORI**"

Naruto and Sasuke rushed at each other, signature attacks blazing in each of their hands for a final strike, due to Sasuke's slightly taller size his attack landed first, spearing Naruto in his right shoulder, slightly piercing the boy's lung. The immense jolt of pain was enough to cause the blonde to lose the concentration he'd used to maintain his balance on the damaged terrain, and he fell forward. The Rasengan, formerly aimed for the Uchiha's forehead protector, slammed directly into the traitorous youth's stomach, sending him flying backward straight into a wall.

As Naruto stood there panting, every cell in his body screaming out in pain, he managed a foxy grin. "Beat you…teme." he smirked before promptly falling unconscious from pain and blood loss.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Hatake Kakashi hopped through the tree surrounding the Valley of the End accompanied by his nin-dog Pakkun. As he approached the valley his eyes instantly locked on the prone form of his fallen _student_: Sasuke Uchiha. The boy, his prodigy and his pride, was lying on the ground unconscious. Kakashi quickly went over to check on his injured student, before sighing in relief. None of his prodigy's wounds were too severe, multiple small wounds, a couple bruised and broken bones, and some minor head trauma, but no threats of brain damage or permanent disablement. With any luck and some proper medical treatment his star student would be on his feet and training again in no time.

"Kakashi!" shouted Pakkun, who had rushed over to check on the injured Naruto. "Naruto's not in good condition, he's got a pierced lung and some other serious injuries. It looks like his healing ability just can't keep up with this level of damage. If we don't the kid to an emergency room he'll be dead in a few hours."

"Good." stated a cheery Kakashi, eye smiling at his faithful ninken.

"_GOOD?_" shouted out a shocked Pakkun. "Didn't you just hear me Kakashi? If we don't get him to a hospital soon your student will die!"

"Exactly." stated Kakashi still eye-smiling. Noting Pakkun's shocked expression he decided to explain while he lifted Sasuke off the ground. "Naruto's always been a failure of a ninja. Naruto's too loud and brash to ever accomplish anything of any importance, and he lacks the skills necessary to become anything higher than a Chuunin. Sasuke, on the other hand, is a prodigy, the last survivor of the great Uchiha clan. With his skills restoring the Uchiha clan and even becoming the first Uchiha Hokage are easily within his grasp. With Naruto's death Sasuke will gain the Mangekyou Sharingan, and thus grow even stronger. In death Naruto will be able to do much more for Konoha then he could ever do in life." finished the gray-haired Jounin.

"Kakashi that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard! Besides if the blonde's such a failure how the hell he beat your precious prodigy here." growled out the diminutive canine.

"He probably caught poor Sasuke by surprise with some dirty demon trick." responded the one-eyed Jounin shrugging his shoulders, making sure not to injure his precious cargo. "Just another reason he should die. I refuse to let that demon gain any more strength." stated Kakashi quietly to himself, though Pakkun's sensitive ears caught it. With those final muttered the gray-haired copy ninja leapt back toward Konoha, leaving his summon and his abandoned student behind.

"That lying two-faced little bastard." growled out Pakkun. "He just used that half-assed excuse to justify letting the pup die due to his prejudice." The small ninken then turned to Naruto. "Rest easy pup, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you die like this. You're too good a pup to let that happen." stated Pakkun somberly, remembering the encounters he'd had with the pup during the Chuunin exams and a few times thereafter on smaller missions. The kid was loyal to a fault, just like his own kind, and ninken would never let their own kind die.

With those final thoughts Pakkun rolled back his head and let loose a loud howl, a howl too loud for a dog as small as him to release naturally. Seconds later he and Naruto were surrounded by a large number of puffs of smoke. Surrounding the two was the remainder of Kakashi's Ninken Squad.

Before any questions could be asked Pakkun spoke up, "No time to explain boys, Naruto here's been severely injured and we have to get him back to Konoha before he croaks. I'll explain everything else on the way. Shiba, Urushi, help me get Naruto up on Bull's back. Everyone else, spread out and do a quick search to see if you can find something to help stop the kid from bleeding out." ordered the diminutive Ninken, with the rest of his squad quickly following their diminutive leader's orders.

It took the three members of the Ninken Squad only a few minutes to get the injured blonde onto Bull's back, and a few seconds later the remainder of the squad returned. One had brought an herb that if chewed and applied to a wound would instantly cause the blood in the surrounding area to clot, preventing further blood loss. Pakkun immediately got the Squad moving toward Konoha while remained atop Bull to apply the medical herb. After he was done, he began to tell the members of his squad exactly what Hatake had done, much to the numerous growls from the squad of Ninken.

The dog summons of the ninken contract were some of the most loyal summons one could find, and as a contract summons they required anyone who summoned them to share their strong sense of loyalty. To hear that their summoner had openly betrayed a fellow member of his pack, worse a pup under his own protection, was an affront to everything their clan stood for. Kakashi Hatake had just crossed a line, and now his summons were not happy about it.

Urushi, a slim dog with shaggy beige fur, white marking, and traditional Japanese angry eyes, which were now narrowed in rage, was the first to voice his opinion, "That rat! I swear once we get to Konoha I'm going to rip off the bastard's arms for this." he snarled out, revealing a set of very sharp teeth.

"You can have his arms, I intend to rip out his throat." growled out Shiba, a shaggy red-furred dog with a black crest and small eyes, not to mention a set of shark-like teeth. Urushi and Shiba were the primary combat dogs for the squad and as such were the most hot blooded.

"We should tell the boss about this as soon as possible. Hatake's crossed the final line." stated Bisuke, a dull yellow-furred dog with dark circles surrounding his eyes and the kanji for shinobi marking his forehead, in his usual dreary tone, though the other dogs noted a hint of disappointment in the usually calm dog's monotone.

"I'm with Bisuke, Hatake's been on thin ice with the boss since he got his friend Obito killed, this news will really set her off." stated Ūhei, a lean dog with short red and white fur, narrow eyes, and bandages wrapped around his head and shoulders.

"You're right." stated Pakkun somberly. "Bisuke, Ūhei, I want you two to go and report to the boss about this. Tell her Hatake's finally gone too far on this one. We may have given him a second chance since his father was probably the greatest summoner we've ever had, but what he did to the pup is unforgivable."

"What do you suggest for his punishment Pakkun-san?" questioned Guruko, a small yellow dog with white markings and a pair pronounced fangs on the edge of his mouth.

"Complete banishment from our contract and those of any of our allies." growled out Pakkun.

This shocked a number of the ninken. Complete banishment meant that not only would the person banished be unable to use their contract, or any of the other clans that the ninken had allied with over the years, but any of their descendents would be automatically refused the right to summon as well. Not only that, but any summoner who had done something so degusting or insulting to his summons to earn this level of punishment would likely find it nearly impossible to convince even an unallied summons clan to allow him the right. Basically it meant that the person's entire line would lose the ability to properly sign summoning contracts. It was the most severe punishment the summons could pass on a summoner, reserved for only those who betrayed their summons on the highest level.

"Are you sure about that Pakkun-san?" stated Akino, another yellow-furred dog who wore a pair of sunglasses and a scarf around his neck. "The Hatake clan has held our kind's summoning contract for generations. If any Hatake is forbidden from signing our scroll again, we'll need to find a new summoner, unless we want to risk leaving the summoning scroll out for Hatake to find and destroy in an attempt for revenge."

"I know its extreme, but what Hatake did to the pup violated the very basis of our clan's laws, that merits the most severe punishment we have. As for a new summoner, I already have a good idea on someone who'd fit our needs perfectly." stated Pakkun with a soft chuckle, as he looked backwards at the unconscious blonde riding behind him.

"The fox child?" asked Bisuke calmly, no insult meant, merely a question.

"Yup." stated the small pug. "I've only met the kid a few times, but each and every time I have, he's been willing to risk his life to defend his home and his friends. That's the kind of loyalty that our kind requires of a summoner."

Bisuke and Ūhei both nodded their heads, if their leader was willing to vouch for the pup then that's all the assurance they needed.

"We'll give the boss your message and suggestions." stated Ūhei, before both he and Bisuke disappeared in twin puffs of smokes.

'_I hope I'm right about you pup,'_ thought Pakkun, _'or my tails gonna be in some severe fire.'_ the small ninken then let out a soft sigh before ordering his team to move double time.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_(Konoha Gates – A short time later)_

Standing at the gates of her village, Tsunade Senju was worried. Most of the Sasuke Recovery Team had made it back already and all of them were injured in some way or another. She had just finished operating on Chouji, who was suffering extreme chakra exhaustion and internal damage after using the Akimichi 'Three Colored Food Pills.' The boy had been in a rough spot but luckily she was able to stabilize him. Now all the boy would need was a little rest and he'd be fine. Neji had suffered a number of piercing wounds throughout his body, but the boy should recover in time. Kiba and Akamaru had also suffered a large number of physical injuries, mostly severe cuts and a few broken bones plus, and were also suffering from chakra exhaustion, but they'd both full through after some recovery time. Shikamaru had suffered the least amount of injuries of the group, whether this was due to his tactical expertise or just sheer dumb luck she couldn't tell. The only problems with him were a slight case of chakra exhaustion, a broken finger, and a number of minor cuts and bruises. Finally, Rock Lee was suffering from several injuries from his fight with the bone-wielding Kaguya, not to mention a severe hangover, but he'd be fine with a little rest. Now the only remaining member missing was the person she'd come to view as a younger brother, or even as a son at times. Naruto Uzumaki.

Surrounding her were several others. Standing by her side, as always, was her assistant Shizune, who seemed just as worried about the young blonde as she did. Tsunade knew that the younger woman cared for Naruto, though the exact nature of those feelings was unknown to her, but she guessed it was close to a sibling relationship.

Nearby the three Sand Siblings also stood waiting for the blonde's return. Temari and Kankuro both seemed mildly nervous, but Gaara was the alarming. While the young red-heads face remained as stoically calm as ever, anyone with any experience reading people, which thanks to her years of experience gambling, despite her loses, Tsunade had in spades, could tell how nervous the young man was. It wasn't all that surprising really, considering all that Naruto had done for the younger Jinchuuriki. Naruto had been the one to save the formerly psychotic red-head from his lonely existence by beating some sense into his head, both literally and metaphorically. Now Gaara considered Naruto both his personal savior and his closest friend; it was only natural for the red-head to worry for his safety.

Standing nearby was Hinata Hyuuga, a young kunoichi who Tsunade knew had a monster crush on Naruto. She'd seen herself on multiple occasions how the shy, soft-spoken Hyuuga would get all nervous and twitchy whenever her little brother was around, even fainting dead straight if he got too close to her. The young Hyuuga had seemed to have some serious self-esteem and confidence issues that needed to be worked out, but she had a lot of promise. Personally, Tsunade liked the girl and thought she and Naruto would be good for each other. The blonde's endless confidence and warm nature would help build the Hyuuga girl's own confidence, while the soft-spoken Hyuuga might actually be able to calm the overly energetic blonde. She was certainly a better option than Naruto's current crush.

Speaking of that annoyance, Sakura Haruno was also among the group waiting for the blonde's return. However unlike the rest of the group that was waiting for the blonde, she seemed more interested in her traitorous teammate than the loyal one who'd set out to retrieve him. She had once considered the girl a possible applicant for apprenticeship under her, but that thought had been thrown out the window a long time ago. The girl was arrogant, pushy, and had an overly-inflated opinion of herself, not to mention her nearly complete lack of skills, besides nearly perfect chakra control. Still that facet had made her an appealing applicant, considering the control requirements necessary for medical jutsu, not to mention her own supper-strength techniques, but since this entire debacle started and the girl kept ranting on about how 'Naruto-baka' had better not hurt 'her Sasuke-kun' the elder blonde's opinion of the pink-haired girl kept falling lower and lower. The girl had practically begged Naruto to bring Sasuke back, and now she was ranting insults about the blonde. The only thing keeping the Slug Sannin from turning the pinkette into paste was her overriding worry for her little brother.

Suddenly a figure appeared in front of the group. Standing tall in front of them was Kakashi Hatake, and resting on his back was no other than Sasuke Uchiha. The masked ninja quickly spoke to the blonde Hokage, "Hokage-sama, I've brought back Sasuke, but I'm unsure about his current condition. I need you to take a look." lied the one-eyed Nin. He was quite certain about his student's condition, but needed a moment to catch his breath and prepare himself for the questions that would soon follow covering the demon brat.

Tsunade nodded her head and did a quick diagnostic jutsu to examine the Uchiha's injuries. Nodding her head upon completion she stated calmly, "The Uchiha's fine, other than a few broken bones and some other minor injuries. The concussion he's got on the back of his head is pretty bad, but he should wake up in a week or so." She then noted the Jounin's solitary form. "Kakashi," she breathed, her heart quivering at the possibilities, "where's Naruto?"

Kakashi hung his head in mock sorrow while doing his best to keep his voice and face a mask of empty emotions. "I'm sorry to say, Tsunade-sama, but sadly Naruto Uzumaki didn't survive this mission." he stated in a voice filled with false sadness and sorrow.

"No." whispered the blonde Sannin as she felt her heart break. Around her similar looks and voices filled the small crowd waiting for the blonde's return. Hinata and Shizune both looked close to breaking into tears, and Gaara and his siblings wore masks of pure shock and sorrow. The only one unconcerned was the pink-haired Haruno who was too busy crooning over her 'injured Sasuke-kun' to even notice.

"Sadly it's true." stated the apparently grieving Hatake, doing his best to hide the smirk beneath his mask. "I'm afraid that he took too many injuries in his attempt to bring Sasuke back unharmed. When I arrived Sasuke was already unconscious and Naruto was on death's door. I held him as his heart stopped, and he whispered his final wish to me. 'Take Sasuke home, and make sure he's safe and happy.' those were his last words to me. Naruto was truly a ninja who understood the true meaning of loyalty." finished Kakashi with a suppressed sob, while inwardly he was smirking quite with more than a bit of pride at his deception.

While kakashi was primarily a combat Nin, that didn't mean he lacked an ability to lie or deceive people. The story was perfect, just the right splash of details without being overly thought-out. Even the blonde's false dying wish sounded perfectly like the blonde's overly caring nature. This story not only kept Kakashi's hands clean, but it would make sure the overly sentimental Hokage wouldn't take any actions against Sasuke for the younger blonde's death. She wouldn't dare go against her beloved 'little brother's' dying wish if she could help it.

Kakashi's moment of smug superiority was shattered a second after it began when a new voice spoke up. "That's the second biggest load of crap I've heard you say today, Hatake." shouted out a grizzled voice from behind the shocked Jounin, who instantly recognized the voice. Turning around slowly, not sure whether he wanted to see what was behind him, the silver-haired Copy Nin's eyes widened at the sight behind him.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Tsunade's world had shattered. Her baby brother was dead, again. She'd lost yet another precious person. The elder Senju was so lost in her own grief that she barely heard the remainder of Kakashi's story. Only when the third voice had cut, did she even bother to raise her head. Thinking it was some fool who'd dare mock her now dead brother's legacy she prepared to turn the speaker into mincemeat, only to stop short at the sight she saw before her.

Standing in the center of the road was a massive ninken, one she recognized as belonging to Kakashi's own squad. Sitting atop the dog's massive head, was the undeniable speaker, a diminutive ninken she recognized as Pakkun. Surrounding the massive ninken was four of the remaining six members of his Ninken Squad. Finally, lying right behind the diminutive Pakkun and across Bull's massive back, unconscious but still breathing if the slow and sporadic rising and falling was any indicator, was one Naruto Uzumaki.

Forgetting everything else for the moment, she ran straight for her little brother. As she approached the small ninken still perched on the giant's head spoke up again, "Lady Tsunade, boy am I glad to see you. The pup's in bad shape." said the small dog worried eyes focusing on the younger blonde shinobi.

Tsunade went to work in an instant. With a little help from Shizune, who'd followed right after her, the two removed the injured Genin from his perch across the large dog's back and gently laid him flat across the ground. She did a quick diagnostic jutsu again and the results were grim: a pierced lung, several broken bones, and severe blunt force damage and electrical burns to several of his internal organs. A normal person would have died instantly from this collection of injuries, but Naruto was no normal person. Kyuubi's chakra seemed to be doing its best to heal the boy, but with the severity of his injuries, all the fox's chakra seemed to be capable of doing was to keep the blonde breathing, and even then it was barely able to do that.

Tsunade gritted her teeth. She'd just gotten her baby brother back from an apparent death and she'd be damned ten times over if she was going to lose him again. Barking out orders to Shizune, she got to work. Working in perfect tandem the two did everything they could to heal the blonde. Luckily, the fox seemed to be enhancing their efforts considerably. Not only did the fox do its own work in healing the blonde's injuries once it no longer needed to focus keeping him alive, but its chakra also seemed to enhance their own healing jutsu. Tsunade was still shocked at the regenerative abilities the fox seemed to grant Naruto. The blonde was at death's door mere minutes ago and now he was on the fast track to recovery. Normally it would have taken hours of work just to stabilize the blonde followed by months of recovery time, but now their work was done in less than half an hour and given the rate of healing combined with her own medical jutsu the blonde would be back at full strength in a few days.

Tsunade was soon shaken out of her contemplation by a chorus of growls and snarls and the pained scream of a one-eyed ninja.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Kakashi Hatake was in shock. His own Ninken had betrayed him, bringing the blonde demon brat back to Konoha. Thoughts ran through his head. With this new development he was in considerable danger. His own story just a moment ago claimed that the blonde had died in his arms. Calming himself the Jounin quickly formulated a plan. He could easily claim that he was mistaken about the blonde's death, stating that he wasn't a full medic like Tsunade. Granted he'd probably be in a lot of trouble from Tsunade for nearly letting her brother die, but he'd survive it. Then all he'd have to do was kill the demon brat before he got a chance to recover and dispute his claim on the blonde's last words. All that would take would be a little effort and some good poison. The only problem was his traitorous ninken, Pakkun. If the dog told Tsunade what had happened his goose was cooked. He needed to get close enough to Pakkun to forcibly dispel the summons. Then he could re-summon the dog in an area where they could work this out. Worse case scenario, he'd simply cancel the contract with the Ninken, stating that he and Pakkun had a major disagreement about what had happened and the dog had gotten the contract cancelled before he could explain what had happened.

Plan set into his mind, the one-eyed Jounin started to move forward, only to be stopped halfway. As soon as he'd even approached the downed blonde with the small Nin-pug sitting by his side, the rest of his former squad launched into immediate action. The remaining Ninken launched themselves at their former master and each latched onto him and held him down while the silver-haired ninja screamed in pain. Shiba and Urushi, being two of the larger and stronger dogs of the pack, both latched onto an arm holding it down and to the side, preventing the Copy Nin from using a single a jutsu or attempting to dispel them. Guruko and Akino, being smaller and with a lot less power, latched onto the man's ankles, gripping tightly and jerking, causing the man to fall to his knees. Lastly, Bull appeared behind the downed shinobi and bit deeply into the man's right shoulder while putting his massive weight to good use and pinning down the already injured Hatake.

Turning around Pakkun growled at his former master before stating coldly, "Do you honestly think we're going to let you get anywhere this pup after what you tried to do to him Hatake?"

"Pakkun I…" started the silver-haired ninja before he cut off by a snarl from the diminutive ninken.

"Save it." snarled out the pug. "I've already sent Ūhei and Bisuke to inform the boss about exactly what you did to that pup, and I've already gave her my recommendation for your punishment. Complete banishment from not only our contract, but from all of our allies' as well."

Kakashi's visible eye widened in shock, he knew full well what complete banishment would mean. Neither he nor any of his kin would ever be able to summon again. "You can't do that!" shouted out the shocked ninja.

"I can and I did, and it's the least you deserve for betraying the pup like you did." growled out the enraged Ninken.

"Excuse me." stated the voice of the Fifth Hokage, who'd observed their entire discussion, seemingly forgotten by the two. Kakashi did NOT like the eerie calm that now filled the Sannin's voice; it did not speak well for his chances of survival. "Pakkun was it?" she asked smiling at the small ninken. Getting a nod from the small dog, she continued, "Given your reaction to his story, and the obvious proof of Naruto still being alive, when Kakashi told us…Now what was it. Oh yes, 'I felt his heart stop as I held him in my arms.' Was that it Kakashi?" she slowly turned calm and cold eyes to the now sweating form of Hatake Kakashi. Before the ninja could speak up in his own defense she returned her attention back to the small pug before her. "I can only assume that Kakashi's story was fabricated in some way. Would you mind telling me what really happened."

Pakkun nodded his head, and launched into his explanation. He told them, nearly word-for-word, exactly what happened in his conversation with Kakashi in the Valley of the End, including Kakashi's little statement at the end. Following closely by his and his squad's actions to get the blonde safely back to Konoha. At the end the pug asked if the young blonde would be alright. After getting a solid confirmation from the elder medic, he nodded to his squad and had them dispel, before telling the Hokage, that he may have some things to discuss with the blonde when he woke up and asked if she would mind sending one of her slugs to his clan's territory to alert them when the blonde regained consciousness. After getting an assurance that she'd do just that as soon as the Naruto regained consciousness she bid the pug a fond farewell. After the dog dispersed in a cloud of smoke she turned now baleful eyes onto the form of Kakashi Hatake, who was currently shaking in fear and looked ready to piss himself.

"So Hatake…any last words before I begin to turn your head into mush?" she asked with an evil smirk while cracking her knuckles.

Before the scared shitless ninja could even utter a squeak for mercy a high-pitched and shrilly voice made itself known. "Why should Kakashi-sensei be punished? Naruto-baka deserved to be left for dead after he tried to hurt Sasuke-kun." shrieked out the pink-haired form of Sakura Haruno. She was currently standing over the downed Naruto with her leg held, seemingly preparing to kick her now revived teammate in the head for daring to hurt 'her Sasuke-kun.'"

Tsunade's only thought was which would hit the pinkette first, her fist or Gaara's sand?

Surprisingly it was neither.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

Hinata Hyuuga was having a really emotional day. First her cousin had been admitted to the hospital nearly dead from numerous wounds inflicted while trying to bring back the traitorous Uchiha. She couldn't describe the fear or remorse in her stomach, she and her cousin had just started to get back to being close thanks to Naruto-kun. Then she'd felt unimaginable relief after finding out he'd recover. Then came new fear accompanied by a sense of dread and worry as she waited for Naruto-kun to return from trying to retrieve the traitor. Then came the heart-wrenching despair upon hearing that Naruto-kun had died from his sensei, but luckily those thoughts and feelings died in a moment after the ninken appeared carrying an injured but still breathing Naruto. Following the relief were flashes of the most extreme rage she'd ever felt as she listened to the tiny pug recount how Hatake had left Naruto-kun to die, for a half-assed excuse to help the Uchiha gain power. The sight of the pink-haired Haruno, the girl Naruto-kun always showed so much kindness and compassion to, the girl she'd kill to just be in her place, standing over the injured form of Naruto, ready to kick the injured boy for fulfilling his promise to her, did something that no one thought possible. It pissed the normally kind-hearted Hyuuga off, big time.

Hinata Hyuuga snapped.

Before the pink-haired fangirl could bring her kick to bear Hinata Hyuuga was in front of her. Hinata stood stark still in her Juken stance, her Byakugan flaring in rage, and a shocking amount of killer intent focused directly on the pinkette in front of her.

"Hinata-san, what the hell are you doing? Get out of my way." shouted the pinkette, either ignoring or not noticing the killing intent that flared around the pale-eyed girl.

"I should be asking the same question Haruno. Naruto just fulfilled his promise to you and now you're trying to hurt him even more."

"I asked Naruto-baka to bring Sasuke-kun back to me, not beat him up!" shrieked the fangirl. "The baka couldn't do a single thing right. This is the one time I ask that idiot to help and he goes and fouls it up. That little dobe is just…." her word were cut off by a palm strike directly to her stomach.

"How. Dare. You." each snarled word accompanied by another strike from the lavender Hyuuga. "Naruto-kun has always risked his life for you. Always helped you whenever he could, and you have the nerve to say something like that. You ungrateful BITCH!" with that final shouted insult Hinata sent the girl flying with a double palm directly to her oversized forehead. Before the girl could move to strike again a hand caught her shoulder. Turning she saw the grinning face of the Fifth Hokage staring down at her. Hinata gulped, realizing had she'd just done, she'd attacked another Konoha nin in front of the Hokage, that was ground for immediate and severe punishment.

Wasn't she surprised when the Hokage patted her on the shoulder and said happily, "Couldn't have said it any better myself." she said flashing the girl a warm grin.

_****_

Tsunade wasn't a woman who normally liked surprises, but the actions of one Hinata Hyuuga were certainly an exception to that rule. _'Maybe, I actually do have a good candidate for a second apprentice_.' she thought happily remembering the scroll Kurenai had given her on the blue-haired Hyuuga, stating her near-perfect control. After giving the girl another pat on the shoulder, she called, "Shizune get Naruto-kun and Haruno-san to the hospital, I'll handle the Uchiha myself when I'm done with Hatake. Hinata-chan would you mind helping her with Naruto, I think she might need an extra hand? I also want to see you in my office in a few days about a special offer I may have for you." Hinata nodded her head while blushing deeply, and went over to help Shizune with Naruto, with the Sand Siblings following close behind to provide an escort. Once the two had left, Tsunade turned her attention back to the still cowering form of Kakashi Hatake.

Her evil grin returning to full force she stated sweetly, "Now where were we?" she asked while cracking her knuckles.

For many hours later the screams of pain of one Hatake Kakashi filled the streets of Konoha.

After beating the bastard Hatake to her heart's content, she picked up both his and the Uchiha's unconscious bodies and left off to the secure medical center where these two would recover until it was time for both of them to face sentencing for treason.

While she carried the two Tsunade couldn't help but smile. Her brother was going to be fine, and she had a good prospect for a second apprentice. All was right in the world.

_(The Next Day)_

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?" shrieked out the Slug Sannin turned Godaime Hokage.

_****_

**End Chapter 1**

**Here's my take on the challenge, please tell me what you think.**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	2. The Council Demands and Tsunade Plans

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

1**jmg1988**: Who said it was just NaruHina, the challenge said it could be either NaruHina or Harem, and if you've read any of my other stories, you know which I prefer.

2**The Elemental Dragon Emperor**: Thanks for the support.

3**VanillaIce**1: Thanks, I tried to get the first chapter as a good framework being set for the series, and I think you'll enjoy this chapter.

4**Benjamin236**: Thanks I'm just trying to apply my own unique style and spin to this great challenge.

5**NoLifeKing666**: Thanks, glad you like what I write, and I hope this story meets your standards.

6**Yamamato**: Thanks, and while Tsunade may not get to punish those two to her heart's content, they will suffer. I assure you.

7**GODHAND Gene**: Thank you for those words of most unarguable wisdom, and I will do my best to meet your high standards.

8**chm01**: Don't worry; I'm actually planning on doing something a bit different for his bloodline (read on to find out).

9**JAYSEN**: Thanks, and here's some more for you.

10**sleepingdragon504**: I don't know if it's the first one, but it plays well with the plans I have for Naruto's development in this fic.

11**FenrirCrinos**: I know, I just thought, that well seeing her cousin, who's she just starting to get close to again thanks to a certain blonde, getting put in the hospital in critical condition, and then having to go through the emotional roller coaster Hatake-teme put them through, and then finally seeing her crush, who just so happens to be the reason her family is coming back together, about to be kicked in the head by a person who he'd done so much for would be enough to set even someone like Hinata off.

12**Mr D Knight Of the Woo**: Thanks and don't worry, being able to summon multiple species is a part of the challenge's requirements and I fully intend to meet it.

13**raw666**: Thanks, I think, and don't worry and here's another chapter to help you make you decision

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

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**Chapter 2: The Council Demands, Tsunade Plans, and the Fox Gives a Gift**

_(The Next Day, Konoha Council Chambers)_

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?" shrieked out the Slug Sannin turned Godaime Hokage.

The volume of the blonde Sannin's shout alone was enough to make a certain pink-haired Genin jealous. However, unlike the shrill sounds of the fangirl's shriek, Tsunade's enraged voice sounded more along the lines of a roar than an actual shriek. That combined with her slamming her fists onto the table, nearly shattering it, and the amount of killing intent she was subconsciously releasing, was enough to send most of the civilian members of the council scurrying backward and the shinobi members reaching for their weapons.

"It is the decision of the council that both Kakashi Hatake and Sasuke Uchiha will not be tried as traitors for their actions. It is also our decision that Naruto Uzumaki is to be banished from Konoha." stated the cold tone of the ancient war-hawk known as Danzo Shimura, who was currently sitting on the opposite side of the table between his fellow members of the Elder Council: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, her sensei's former teammates.

"Explain yourselves." hissed the Hokage, glaring directly at the elders, "First of all the Uchiha attempted to defect from Konoha to one of our greatest enemies, and you want to let him get off scotch free? As for Hatake, he not only abandoned a severely injured comrade, a Genin under his direct authority no less, to die, but lied to me about it." she growled out.

"Please, you can't blame the boy when his actions were obviously not of his own control." stated Homura calmly, the elderly man speaking with a crisp and calm decorum. "It's obvious from our reports that the Curse Mark that Orochimaru inflicted on the boy negatively influenced his personality. Our reports clearly show that the boy had been suffering from fits of aggressive and antisocial behavior since that man infected him. Combined with the mental trauma the Uchiha Massacre and his brother's betrayal caused the boy, and his strong desire to avenge his clan, the boy was obviously not in his right mind. Steps are being taken to ensure that this doesn't happen again; we already have seal masters working on a way to permanently suppress the seal, and we have also placed a locater tag on the boy's leg to ensure any other attempts at kidnapping will be futile."

"As for young Kakashi," stated Koharu, "our interview with him showed that while the man did make a mistake, it wasn't one worthy of the crimes you're blaming him for. From Kakashi's rendition of the events, the man was quite certain that Naruto would die before he could get him back to Konoha, while he was uncertain about Sasuke's condition. Clearly the man believed that Naruto was beyond his ability to save so he focused on saving the one student he thought he was capable of helping. As for lying to you, well I can't really blame the poor boy. It is well known how close you and the young Uzumaki are, if he'd told you the exact truth you'd have probably killed him then and there." stated the elderly woman her voice filled with false sympathy.

"What about the statement Pakkun gave me? From that it's quite clear that Hatake's intentions in leaving behind Naruto were wholly malicious." snapped Tsunade

"_Hmmph_." snorted Koharu, "The word of one of our ninja far outweighs the word of a summons, and since there are no other witnesses or evidence, we can only trust in our shinobi. You needn't worry Tsunade, Kakashi will still be punished for his breaches in conduct, but I don't believe the boy's poor choices should cost him his life, especially given the circumstances. Furthermore, given your close relationship with the boy he '_abandoned'_ we'll be the ones to decide the punishment, since your closeness to the case would obviously impede your ability to make a fair and unbiased judgment."

'_Yeah right,'_ Tsunade mentally scoffed, _'from what I've read those, 'fits of aggressive and antisocial behavior,' have been going on since the brat's clan was slaughtered, but you idiots have been ignoring or explaining it away just so you can have your precious Uchiha clan revived. As for Kakashi, you just want him to be able to keep teaching the little bastard. I also doubt any punishment you inflict on the man will even be noticeable. Hell, they probably want to reward him for almost getting rid of Naruto.'_ mentally growled out the elder woman, but she knew that this wasn't the time or the place to argue about that, and, quite frankly, she didn't much care what happened to the Uchiha or Hatake now, the only one she cared about right now was her little brother.

"And what about banishing Naruto? What the hell is the boy's crime?" growled out the blonde woman murderously.

"Naruto Uzumaki is charged and convicted of the assault and attempted murder of the Clan Heir of the Uchiha clan. A most serious crime." stated Danzo somberly, with a twisted smirk on his face, a smirk shared by the remainder of the Elder Council, the Civilian Council, and to Tsunade's surprise and anger, a large majority of the Clan Council.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" shouted out the blonde Hokage, "Naruto and his team was assigned to retrieve Sasuke by any means necessary, and from what I've seen Sasuke was the one least injured by their fight!"

"Calm yourself Tsunade-sama," stated Danzo coolly, his voice never losing its even tone, "from what we've confirmed from the battle, it is clear the blonde used excessive force than necessary to bring back the young Uchiha. Under Konoha law those actions against a fellow ninja, especially one not under his own power, constitutes charges of assault and attempted murder."

"And where the hell do you get the idea that Naruto used 'excessive force?'" snarled out Tsunade.

"From Kakashi's report of course." stated a smirking Danzo, "within it we find statements on the condition of the battlefield and the young Uchiha, that clearly shows the young Uzumaki clearly used greater force than necessary to capture young Sasuke. Along with those charges there are the clear indicators the boy is succumbing to the demon held within him. The many instances of his use of its chakra is a clear enough sigh of that. The boy needs to be removed from Konoha immediately for the village's safety if nothing else!"

Tsunade was gripping the edge of the council table so hard that the two chunks in her hands suddenly cracked and snapped off. Throwing the hunks of wood, that were now barely more than handfuls of sawdust, to the side she rounded her glare onto the Clan Council. "I expected this kind of blatant favoritism and animosity from the civilians, but am I to take it that the Clan Council agrees with this as well? I thought that you people at least were capable of seeing past the damned fox." she growled angrily.

For the most part the council cringed under their leader's glare, but Hiashi Hyuuga decided to speak up, "It is the _near_ unanimous," the head of the Hyuuga clan shot a glare at Shibi Aburame, "that the boy is too dangerous to remain inside Konoha. The indicators of his use of Kyuubi's chakra in the confrontations with Zabuza Momochi, my nephew Neji, and then again in his battle with Sasuke are clear signs the seal is weakening. Given those facts it is in the best interests of the village to see the boy removed."

Tsunade ignored the Hyuuga, she was sure that if she didn't she'd likely pluck out the man's eyes with her own two fingers and turned her attention to the Aburame clan head. "I take it from Hiashi's reaction that you're the only one who voted against banishing Naruto." she stated calmly.

"That is correct, Hokage-sama." stated the Aburame head calmly. "My clan knows full well what it is like to be disliked and persecuted for something that we hold within ourselves." he stated solemnly.

"_BAH_!" came the shrieking voice of Tamara Haruno, the head of the Haruno clan and head of the Civilian Council, "It's just like you bug-freaks to sympathize with that demon brat. If I had my way the little monster would've been drowned as soon as it was bor…." her rant was halted by a kunai, courtesy of Tsunade, whizzing past her cheek and leaving a deep gash.

"I'll remind the council that my predecessor and teacher's law is still in place, and I will personally enforce it on the next person stupid enough to break it in my presence." stated Tsunade coldly, getting many frightened stares from the entire council.

"Calm yourself Tsunade." growled out Danzo. "We are attempting to be merciful to the boy. Normally the punishment for the crimes the boy has committed is death by forced seppuku, but considering your relationship with the boy, and his numerous actions for the good of the leaf, we are only banishing him."

"And if I refuse to acknowledge the council's decision?" returned the blonde kage.

"Then we will be forced to take this directly to the Fire Daimyo, and have him punish the boy to the full extent of the law. It is your decision Tsunade either agree to banish the boy or risk him being forced to kill himself as punishment. Naturally, we won't force you to make a decision so suddenly; we'll give you until the boy's banishment is due to make your decision. If he has not left by then we will be forced to take the matter to the Daimyo."

"And when exactly is the banishment to be enforced?" asked Tsunade in a dangerously calm voice.

"The boy will have three days after he is fully recovered from his injuries to set his affair in order before his banishment is enforced." stated Koharu, "When is the boy due to be fully recovered?"

Tsunade thought for a moment. "Given his healing abilities, Naruto should regain consciousness within the next day or so, and be fully recovered within a week of that." she lied calmly. In all honesty the blonde would probably be fully recovered in two days, but she needed the extra time to plan."

"Very well, we'll trust your judgment on the boy's recovery." stated Homura calmly. "Will you be the one to deliver the message to the boy?" she asked.

"Yes." growled out the Slug Sannin, she wouldn't trust any of these fools to deliver the news honestly to Naruto.

"Good. Then this meeting is over." stated Danzo with a final victorious smirk.

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__(An hour later: Hokage's office)_

"_!_"

The enraged roar of a pissed Sannin split the night as a chair suddenly flew out the topmost window of the Hokage's tower. The chair was quickly followed by several other pieces of furniture and one unfortunate Chuunin who had chosen that time to deliver a report.

Within the office connected to that window a red-faced Tsunade stomped about in a state of utter and complete rage, ignoring the screams of the freefalling Chuunin. "Those bastards! Those chauvinistic, idiotic, pig-headed bastards! How dare they do this to him? After everything Naruto's done for this village, they just up and order me to banish him, or they'll have him executed." she finished with a dark growl.

"Surely there's something we can do Shishou? I mean with the flimsy evidence they have they can't honestly convince the Fire Daimyo to support their claims right?" asked a worried Shizune. Her master had explained everything to her before she went on her rampage and now the young dark-haired woman was worried sick.

"It's not that simple Shizune. First, the Fire Daimyo is a politician first and foremost, if he sees the entire council standing against one boy then he may decide to side with them despite the evidence, and that's not mentioning any political tricks, favors, or sway Danzo or his cronies have up their sleeves. Then there's the implied threat Danzo and the rest of those toads in the council made when they gave me the offer." she growled.

"Implied threat?" asked Shizune cautiously.

"When they offered me the chance to decide whether or not I agree to Naruto's sentence they were issuing a challenge and a threat. To translate it said, 'Either agree with us now and banish the boy, or the next time the boy even steps slightly out of line we'll do everything in our power to see him dead.' Basically, they're saying that this is my only chance to let Naruto live, and if I don't do as they say they'll pull out every dirty trick, plot, and plan they've got to see the gaki executed at the slightest convenience." explained a grim Tsunade before sighing and continuing. "I'm also pretty sure that even if I do agree to banish him they'll constantly threaten to have him marked as a missing nin in the bingo books if I don't become their cooperative little puppet."

"Oh dear." stated a shocked Shizune realizing what that meant, and it was a pretty bad situation for Naruto. If Tsunade agrees then he'd be banished from his home for the rest of his life, but if she refused then Naruto would be under a never ending cloud of political scrutiny and danger. Either decision would also benefit the council. If she agrees, they'll have a constant threat against her to try and control her, and if she refuses they'll constantly bombard her with threats to the younger blonde, making her unable to prevent any other plots without risking the blonde's life. It was pretty much a lose-lose situation for both the blondes, and a win-win for the council. If she didn't hate the council's guts at the moment Shizune would have been impressed, it was political maneuvering at its finest. Instead she asked, "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know Shizune, I just don't know." stated a depressed Tsunade. She looked out her now shattered window and thought to herself_. 'Grandfather, Uncle; is this truly the village you fought so hard to found? A village of corrupt and bigoted fools who can't see past a bloody fox and their own pain to see the kind and gentle person they're seeking to destroy in every way possible? The only reason I'm even in this village is because I believed in Naruto. He's the only reason I came back and took this job and the only reason…I'm…still…here. THAT'S IT!'_ mentally concluded Tsunade, as a serious and slightly evil smirk cemented on her features. Looking back toward Shizune she barked out, "Shizune!" awakening the younger woman from her own depressed thoughts.

"H-Hai" stated the surprised medic.

"What was the main reason I returned to Konoha in the first place?" she asked seriously.

"It was because of Naruto-kun Shishou." responded her first apprentice, who was slightly confused by her master's questions.

"And who was the one who convinced me to take this job in the first place?" continued the blonde.

"Naruto." answered the still confused Shizune.

"And who or what is the only reason I'm still in this village?" asked the Sannin as her smirk grew.

"Again that would be Naru…" realization suddenly dawned on the black-haired apprentice. "You don't mean?"

"Yes I do Shizune." stated a serious Tsunade. "That gaki is the only reason I'm in this god-forsaken hole in the ground. It's no longer the place my grandfather and uncle dreamed of. The tree they worked so hard to plant has rotted all the way down to its roots. The only reason I came back here is because I thought Naruto could save this place from itself, but since that's no longer possible I don't really see any point in staying. Besides, if those bastards think I'm going to just sit down and follow their orders while they banish one of the few people left in this world I care about, they've seriously underestimated me. I'm the Hokage for a reason, not to mention a Senju and a woman besides that. I think it's about time the council learns why it's supremely stupid to mess with one of those, and suicide to mess with all three at once." she finished with a fierce growl.

Shizune nodded her head. "Where do we start?"

Tsunade took a moment to look at her first apprentice. "Shizune," she said solemnly, "you know you don't have to go along with this. I know how much you've wanted to settle down, start a family. I won't force you to…" she was interrupted by Shizune hand coming up to halt her speech.

The younger woman looked warmly at her master and friend. "Tsunade," she stated warmly, "you are my family, and Naruto-kun has become very precious to me as well. Anyplace I stay without you two would never be home for me. If you're going, then I am as well." finished the younger woman in a serious tone.

Tsunade took a moment to look at her first apprentice and long-time friend, and smiled. "Glad to hear it." she stated warmly before switching into full commander mode, "Now get a pot of tea brewing and make it strong. If we're leaving, I'm going to make this entire village sorry for everything they've done to Naruto. We'll also need supplies, money, and a way to keep those idiots in council from declaring us missing nin. I've also got an idea or two for a couple of extra hands we can bring along."

"Yes sir!" stated Shizune with a quick military salute, before setting to work on the tea.

"Also send out two messengers. Send the first to the Hyuuga Estate with a message to Hinata to have her come to my office first thing in the morning for a meeting about the offer I asked her about. The other one goes to Jiraiya, have them tell the old pervert that if he isn't in my office by noon tomorrow, I'll outlaw all hot springs in Konoha, have every single one of those perverted books he's written collected and burned in a public bonfire in the town square while he's tied to a stake and forced to watch, and then castrate him, heal him, and castrate him again. That ought to make sure the pervert's here on time."

"Hai." called out Shizune as she finished starting the tea before heading out to alert the needed messengers.

While Shizune left Tsunade got to work on the first paperwork she'd ever been excited about doing in years. _'I'm going to teach those council idiots what it means to piss off a woman, especially Tsunade of the Sannin. As the old saying goes 'Hell has no wrath like a woman's scorn.' By the time I'm done, hell will seem like a paradise compared to this place.'_

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_(Meanwhile: Konoha Hospital, Specially secured room)_

Naruto Uzumaki was lying on his bed, still unconscious from his injuries. His room was well secured and guarded around the clock by at least a pair of Anbu who the Hokage trusted completely, shinobi she knew were both completely loyal to her or the office of Hokage itself, and held no grudge against the younger blonde. They were instructed to allow no one in to see the boy without first reporting it to Shizune or the Hokage herself, which included all medical staff. Resting on the foot of the bed was Shizune's pet pig TonTon. The little pig may be pampered but she was still a ninja-pig and had a nose better than some ninken. She was the blonde's early warning device, if anyone came too close to the blonde that TonTon didn't recognize or even thought was acting suspicious the little pig would set off a small seal in her collar that would instantly draw Tsunade and Shizune's attention to the room, as well as alert the Anbu standing guard.

With all the security Naruto could rest and recover easily without the threat of any ninja or civilian attempting to get into his room and finish what Kakashi and Sasuke had started. The two Anbu stationed to guard the boy had thought that the Hokage was being a bit extreme about the threat the boy was suffering from, but they soon stood corrected. It had barely been a full day and the two had already stopped two doctors and a nurse from coming in to give the blonde a sanctioned 'medical shot,' which both discovered contained powerful poisons, and a single Jounin from sneaking in through a window, thanks to TonTon's early warning, with a kunai ready to murder the blonde. Needless to say both had since increased their active surveillance of the area, and when their shift ended, both would be sure to warn their replacements about the level of animosity the boy would face.

While his protectors stood guard over his immobile body, Naruto's mind was very much active.

_(Naruto's Mindscape)_

Standing before the massive cage doors that signified the Kyuubi's prison, was the annoyed form of our blonde hero. "What the hell do you want fox?" asked the irate blonde

"**Actually kit, I've brought you here to strike a bargain**." stated the surprisingly calm voice of the monstrous Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Why the hell should I listen to anything you say you damned fox! You probably just want me to remove the seal so you can finish destroying Konoha!" accused the blonde.

A tick mark suddenly developed above the massive eyes that indicated the fox's presence. **"Now listen here you pathetic little ninken."** growled out the fox demon. **"If it wasn't for me working my ass off to keep you alive and the actions of a few of the mortals who actually care about you, you'd be dead thanks to your so-called '**_**brother**_**_'s'_ actions, your teacher's prejudice, and that pink-haired fangirl you call a friend nearly kicking your head in!" **

"What the hell are you talking about, Sasuke wouldn't really try to kill me, and what the hell are you saying about Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan?" asked the annoyed and confused blonde.

The fox let out a heavy sigh, before replying**, "I know you're not going to like this kit, but you need to know who to trust. First the wounds the Uchiha inflicted on you were all designed to kill you, the little brat was aiming to see you dead from the very beginning. As for your sensei and the pink-haired one…well I think you'd better see for yourself."** with that the fox showed the blonde exactly what had happened since the battle in the Valley of the End, from Kakashi's betrayal, to Sakura's attempt to harm him, to Hinata standing up for him. One may ask how the fox had viewed all this, but the fox was deeply connected to all the blonde's senses, even when he was unconscious, and the fox could witness everything that occurred around the boy, even with his eyes closed.

Needless to say the blonde's world was shattered. Three of the people he had come to view as precious had betrayed and tried to kill him. "This can't be true. YOU"RE LYING" cried out the blonde desperately, though he somehow knew the great demon wasn't.

"**Sorry to say kit, but I'm not. If you can't believe me, just confirm it with the blonde Hokage of yours when you awaken." **stated the fox solemnly.

With those words, those undeniable words, Naruto slumped to his knees and tears began to fall from his eyes. "I guess it's true, no one really cares about Me." sobbed out the broken-hearted blonde.

"**I wouldn't say that kit."** stated the fox comfortingly, **"After all that large-chested blonde looked ready to murder that Hatake fool when she found out what he did. And let's not forget the purple-haired Hyuuga girl who stood up to defend you when that howler monkey attempted to attack you. I'd say you've got at least two people who care a lot about you there."**

The blonde sniffled a little as he called the memories Kyuubi had shown him, and the fox was right; Tsunade and Hinata both seemed to really care for him. "Thanks Kyuubi I appreciate it," he whispered before a small grin appeared on his face, "but that doesn't mean I'm gonna remove the seal."

A large toothy, or fangy as the case may be, grin appeared below those massive eyes and the fox responded**, "Wouldn't want you to kit, considering that ripping off that seal would likely kill us both. Though I may be immortal and not even the Shinigami's seal is able to truly kill me, it would still be an incredibly painful experience that would leave me a lot weaker for a long time. Something I'd like to avoid for as long as possible. Nope, we're stuck with each other until death do us part."** stated the grinning fox demon.

Naruto smirked, "Great I'm pretty much married to giant demonic fuzz-ball. Ain't that the story of my life." he finished with an exaggerated sigh, getting a barking laugh from the fox demon.

"**I'm not too happy about it either kit. Personally I'd rather be stuck with the big-chested blonde Hokage of yours, at least then I'd have something fun to look at."** stated the fox with a perverted giggle, causing the blonde to sweatdrop.

"Great, I've got the demonic version of Ero-Sannin sealed in my gut." he stated while face-palming his head, before looking up at the ceiling and asking, "Am I doomed to be surrounded by perverts for the rest of my life?" he asked.

"**Afraid so kit."** smirked the fox.

Both demon and vessel shared a laugh before Naruto got a confused expression on his face. "Hey Kyuubi." he asked, "Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? When we met in the Chuunin exams you were pretty much ready to bite my head off and devour me. What's with the sudden attitude shift?"

The fox looked down on the young blonde with a calm expression, well as calm as an expression as a giant pair of red fox eyes could get, and spoke, **"When we first met kit, I had just been woken up from my long slumber by you traipsing in and ordering me to give you my power, which naturally got me a little pissed, but after being up for a little while I started to watch what you did with the power I granted you. I have to admit you did something pretty rare, you impressed me. Most of my former containers have used my power to further their own goals, but you only used my power when there was something you wanted to protect. You never relied on it, only using it when you had no other options. Then I decided to sift through your memories and saw what your life has been like. Despite everything you've been through because of this village, all the years of loneliness and hate you've experienced, you never went down the path of anger and hatred. For a mortal to show that much resolve and strength of will is something truly impressive. To put it simply kit, you've earned my respect, and that's something only a very small list of mortals can claim to have done, two of which were your First and Fourth Hokages. Come to think of it you actually remind me a bit of the old wood-head and the blonde-haired speedster."** finished the fox with a smug expression.

The blonde was flabbergasted; he'd earned the respect of theKyuubi no Kitsune, the greatest of the tailed demon lords, and even reminded the fox of both the First and Fourth Hokages. "Thanks." he muttered not really sure how to respond to the praise. That was a lot of compliments for a kid who barely received any at all. Then again considering how his supposed sensei seemed to be just another bigoted idiot, that wasn't much of a surprise. Remembering what had started the conversation, "You mentioned something about a bargain?"

The fox's grin returned full force, **"Glad you remembered that, maybe you're not as stupid as everyone thinks."**

"HEY! It isn't my fault that those baka instructors at the academy wouldn't teach me anything! All they did was yell at me and send me out of the class at every opportunity. It wasn't until Iruka-sensei started teaching us that anyone bothered to try and teach me anything." stated the annoyed blonde.

"**Relax kit, I know."** stated the fox calmly. **"We'll have to work on that once you're back on your feet, but that can wait for later. Right now, what I'm offering you is a bloodline."** stated the smirking demon.

"A BLOODLINE!" shouted the shocked blonde. He remembered what Kakashi-sensei…no Hatake-teme, had told him about bloodlines. They were a rare and powerful gift that only members of certain clans could use. "How can you grant me one of those?" asked a confused and excited blonde

"**Well right now, due to the lengths I went to keep you alive after the Uchiha whelp ran a Chidori through your lung, your body is pretty much saturated with my chakra. All I have to do is channel more of it and then immerse it into your DNA to alter it, granting you a bloodline."** explained the fox.

"Oh," said the blonde flatly, not understanding everything the fox had just told him, but deciding to go with it, until another question popped into his head. "What do you get out of this Kyuubi?"

"**Excuse me?"** asked a surprised fox.

"Well, you said this was a bargain right, and a bargain usually has someone giving something to someone else in exchange for some other thing or favor." stated the blonde confusingly, as if having trouble putting his thoughts into words.

The fox openly stared at the blonde for a moment before it started to laugh again. **"You know kit, you might actually have a brain inside that slab of concrete you call a skull."** laughed the demon.

"Hey!" shouted the insulted blonde.

"**Relax kit, all fun aside; yes there is something I'd like you to do for me. I want you to hunt down that snake bastard Orochimaru and another person when you become strong enough and rip him into bite-sized bits."** growled out the fox.

"What's with the serious grudge you've got for Orochi-teme and this other guy?" asked the blonde.

"**They're the reasons you and I are stuck like this."** growled out the fox. Seeing his vessel's confused expression the fox explained, **"Have you ever wondered why I attacked Konoha in the first place?"**

"I never really thought about it?" answered the blonde honestly.

"**Well it all started about 14 years ago. Despite what most ninken believe, we Biju are not an entirely evil race of demons. Most of us just want to be left to our own devices. I'll gladly admit I'm a hot-headed and violent being, but I don't rampage unless someone pisses me off. I'm no pacifist mind you, in fact there are few things I love more than a good fight, but I don't like mindless slaughter. I'm usually content with just lying around and enjoying the peace and quiet of my den, and occasionally getting into a fight with some being that's actually worth the effort. That's where those two come in. I was in my den simply enjoying a nice nap when those two came in. That snake-freak bit me in the neck and injected me with some sort of poison that weakened my mind and made me more susceptible to genjutsu. Then the other one, a man with a single, unusual Sharingan, placed a powerful genjutsu on me, throwing me into a berserk fury and sending me straight to your village. Now there's a lot of things I don't like in this world, and right near the top of that list is being used. That's why I want your help in seeing those two pay."** finished the fox with an audible snarl.

"I see." stated Naruto with more than a little anger lacing his voice. "Considering it's their fault my life has been so royally screwed up, I don't think I'll mind taking care of them, but who's this second guy? The one with the weird Sharingan?" asked the blonde.

"**I don't know for sure kit, his scent seemed so familiar but I just couldn't place it. But somehow I know that we'll meet him again in the future, just like we met Orochimaru."** answered the fox.

"We can worry about finding him after we deal with the Hebi-teme." stated Naruto, before an excited look appeared in his eyes. "Now what exactly will my bloodline be able to do?" asked the blonde boy.

"**Heheheh. Eager aren't we kit?"** stated the amused fox. **"Well your bloodline…"**

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**END CHAPTER 2**

**NEXT TIME: FIND OUT WHAT POWERS THE FOX'S BLOODLINE HOLDS**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	3. A Blonde Awakens and Preparations Start

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

1**VanillaIce1**: I'm afraid so, the poor boy's doomed to be surrounded by perverts, luckily not all of them will be male insert perverted giggle. Sadly no ramen related abilities, but I think you'll like what it can do, and yes both Hinata and the Ero-Sannin will be involved.

2**Raven Marcus**: Thanks, hope I can keep your interest.

3**NoLifeKing666**: Sorry but no FemKyuubi this time I'm afraid, and I'm not going to release a harem list on this one, mostly because I don't know who yet.

4**UMMX**: Sorry, but Hinata's the main girl this time, mostly because she supplies a good base for other relationships to grow off.

5**GODHAND Gene**: Testify my friend, testify. As for Gaara's rampage afraid that won't happen yet. I'm planning on getting some good growth in the future, and I hope you enjoy how it goes. P.S: Naruto's heritage will be revealed, but later in the story, and trust me Konoha fans won't like the outcome.

6**chm01**: Sorry about that, but I need time to finalize some decisions on the bloodline.

7**Benjamin236**: Thanks, I wanted to give their relationship a rocky start and let the two develop a better trust and even friendship with each other as time goes on.

8**raw666**: You can say that again.

9**Ryan L. Spradling**: Thanks for the votes and we'll see what happens, as for Kushina, I'm afraid I can't write a good story with her alive, just things never seem to work-out right in my head, but I'm making no guarantees in this one.

10**dragoon109**: I'm afraid that you misunderstood what happened in the council scene. The council can't make any decisions involving shinobi without the Hokage's approval. That's why they didn't banish Naruto themselves, they couldn't without Tsunade's or the Fire Lord's approval. So they basically called the meeting to threaten her into agreeing with them or they'd take the case to the Fire Daimyo to have her overruled.

11**aznblackhowling**: Here's your update, was that quick enough.

12**Guardian9641**: Thanks and I will.

13**Yamamato**: I appreciate your support and I think this bloodline is a good one.

14**Dark Anthony**: Thanks for the support, and a lot of the ones I've read start as Naru/Hina but develop into Naru/Harem. I'll keep your suggestions in mind, but I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of Tsunade in the harem; I just can't get over the way she looks at him as family.

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

_**

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**_

_"Now what exactly will my bloodline be able to do?" asked the blonde boy._

_"__**Heheheh. Eager aren't we kit?"**__ stated the amused fox. __**"Well your bloodline…"**_

**Chapter 3: A Blonde Awakens and Preparations Start**

"**Your bloodline is mostly a dojutsu, plus a few other tricks."** stated the grinning fox demon.

"A dojutsu, like the Sharingan or the Byakugan? What does it do? What's it called?" asked the excited blonde.

"**Settle down kit. First I've named it the ****Yōkogan (Demon Fox Eyes) ****and it has nine special properties, one for each of my tails**." stated the fox with no small amount of pride. **"Now it has the basic abilities of most dojutsu: enhanced sight, the ability to see chakra, and an increased resistance to genjutsu. In addition to those abilities, you'll be able to track and follow movements in a similar manner as the Sharingan your teme of a teacher and teammate possess can. You can 'switch' your eyes to see on the infrared spectrum…"**

"Infrawhat spectwho?" interrupted the confused blonde.

***Sigh* "That's 'infrared spectrum' kit."** answered the fox. **"Basically it means you can see things based on heat instead of light. There's a lot of complicated ****science involved that I'll explain later, but basically it**** means you'll be able to see through walls and disguises as well as having perfect vision in otherwise lightless conditions. You can also cast a number of special Genjutsu called '**_**Kitsune no Mahō**_**' (Fox Magic) and you can combine fire and lightning chakra, which I've given you strong affinities for at no extra cost, to create a new sub-element called '**_**Kitsune-bi**_**' (Fox-Fire). I've already developed some special techniques for both, and I'll teach those to you later. Finally, I've ingrained your healing factor into it as well." **As the fox finished his little speech he looked down at his container to find him drooling with a very distant look in his eyes. **"Kit? KIT! Snap out of it already!"** shouted the fox.

"Huh?" mumbled the blonde as he came out of his bloodline fueled daydreams. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, the blonde thought for a moment before, "Hey! That's only eight, I thought you said I'd get nine?" shouted the blonde.

"**Glad to see you're able to count kit."** deadpanned the fox. **"I know it's only eight, because I'm letting you decide what the ninth ability is," **Seeing the blonde about to open his mouth again the fox spoke up again, **"and before you so much as think it. It can't have anything to do with finding, creating, detecting, or anything else involving ramen."**

Naruto developed a slightly disappointed look at this statement, causing the fox to sweatdrop, before developing a more thoughtful one._** 'Kami does this kit think with only his stomach?'**_ thought the fox.

After a few moments of thought the blonde came to a decision. "Alright, I want to be completely immune to the powers and effects of the Sharingan." stated the blonde.

The fox actually raised one fuzzy brow at this decision, "Any reasons for that decision kit?" In truth it was a pretty good decision and one the fox could easily accomplish. After all, he knew the Sharingan front, back, and sideways. One of the benefits of being the creator of a bloodline is that you tend to know everything about it.

"Well first there's that Itachi guy who's chasing me. He's supposed to be a master at wielding the Sharingan, so being immune to it would definitely help me. Then there's both Sasuke-teme and Hatake-teme, they're both experts at wielding the Sharingan and both of them have tried to kill me in just the past few days. Kind of makes me think that anyone who has the Sharingan is going to hate me and want to kill me on principle. If that actually happens, I'd like to have something to give me an edge. Finally, there's the fact that I've never really liked how the Sharingan could steal a person's jutsu, especially after all the hard work it takes to just learn a new one. It took me weeks to learn the Rasengan, and hours of hard work to learn Kage Bunshin. It just rubs me the wrong way that Sasuke-teme or anyone else can steal them from me just by watching me use them." answered the blonde.

The fox was pleasantly surprised; the kit actually had some pretty good reasoning behind his decision. Sure the whole, 'I think everyone with the Sharingan has a grudge against me' was a little far-fetched, but given the blonde's recent experiences the fox couldn't fault the kit's logic. **"Alright kit, one immunity to the Sharingan and everything it entails coming up. After I'm finished imbedding your bloodline into your DNA, you'll wake up. After that I think you'd better tell your large breasted friend about your new abilities."**

"Gotcha' fox, and could you please stop referring to Baa-chan like that, it's kind of creepy." responded the blonde.

**"No way kit, I don't get anything else to enjoy in here, at least not until you actually get some, so I'm ogling for all I'm worth." **answered the fox with a perverted giggle as his cage bars began to glow.

"Ero-Kitsune." deadpanned the blonde as he felt his mind drift back into unconsciousness.

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_(The Next Morning: Hokage's Office)_

Tsunade sat behind her desk a proud smirk spread across her face. Sitting in front of her was a small stuck of papers, formal decrees all bearing her signature and stamp. It had taken her the better part of the night to figure out the exact wording needed so she wouldn't leave any holes in their escape plan. The top ones read:

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage and Namekuji (Slug) Sannin, hereby name Naruto Uzumaki as my second apprentice._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby promote Naruto Uzumaki to the rank of Chuunin under my authority_

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby release Naruto Uzumaki, Tsunade Senju, and Shizune from all duties, responsibilities, and form of binding agreement to Konoha, or the nation of Hi no Kuni in general._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby pardon Naruto Uzumaki, Tsunade Senju, and Shizune of all crimes against Konoha or the Fire Nation, past, present, or future, as long as I hold authority as Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby name Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin my successor for the title of Hokage, if I retire, die, or am deemed as unfit for the position and a new Hokage is required._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby release the following items from the Hokage's personal vault, the Anbu storehouse, and the Village Storehouse into my own care until such as a time as either I or their current possessor deems fit to return them: The Forbidden Scroll of Seals, The Third Hokage's Monkey Summoning Contract, The Hokage's personal library of Jutsu…_ the large list filled up nearly the entire large scroll.

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby freely release Naruto Uzumaki, Tsunade Senju, and Shizune from their ranks and responsibilities as Konoha shinobi, while allowing them to retain any ranks and/or titles associated with their positions._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby ban the use of any seals on Konoha shinobi or civilian that are designed to hinder, harm, punish, and/or control said shinobi. Any information on any such seals in current use by any clan or individual must be turned into the Hokage as soon as knowledge of this act is put into effect or the individuals involved will be tried for treason and executed. Any such seals currently in effect are to be removed as soon as this law comes into effect. Any such seals that are currently in effect and lack a removal procedure are to be studied and analyzed by the current Hokage and any seal masters under his employ to find a way to remove them. Any use or activation of such seals while they are still in effect after this decree comes into effect is to be treated as a capital offense of either attempted murder or actual murder depending on the circumstances of the use and the user will be punished to the full extent of the law. Financial restitutions of 1 million ryo will be paid each shinobi, and 500 thousand to each civilian, to those who have had these seals placed on them in the past. The amounts will be paid for by the body or bodies in charge of placing said seals onto said victims._

Tsunade couldn't help but smile at her most recent decree. She'd created it for two reasons. One was because Naruto had made a promise to Neji about ensuring that that retched caged bird seal was removed, and she was not about to make her baby brother a liar. Two, was to stir up some chaos with the Hyuuga clan. If her first meeting turns out the way she hoped than Hiashi would be royally pissed when he found out, and, decree or no decree, he'd send out people to track them down. Hopefully her little decree will keep Hiashi off her and her little group's back.

Sitting next to the stack of signed decrees was a smaller stack waiting for her signature. These were ready to go, but would have to wait until after her meeting with a certain shy young Hyuuga.

Hearing someone enter her office the elder blonde looked up and grinned at her first apprentice. "Shizune, have you finished applying the seals I gave you?" she asked

"Yes my lady." answered Shizune. "I applied them to the mission distribution and storage rack just as you instructed, and told the Chuunin on duty there it was simply an upgrade for the security seals involved. I've also tested it thoroughly."

"And?" questioned Tsunade, she may not be a seal master on Jiraiya's level but she took pride in her ability to create new seals.

"It worked perfectly Shishou." answered Shizune holding up a large scroll. "This receiver scroll now shows us a complete list of all current missions in the rack along with all relevant mission details, and all we need to do is channel some chakra into the correct section and we can summon any mission we choose from the rack. I tested it out on a couple of D-ranks assigned by some council members and it worked perfectly."

"Glad to hear it." stated the Hokage. Those seals would allow her and her team access to missions to both help improve their skills, make political allies, and earn a little cash on the side; all right from under Konoha's nose. Speaking of cash, "What is the current holdings of Konohagure's treasury at the moment?" she asked suddenly

Shizune fished around a small pile of document before finding the one she needed and answered, "The treasury currently contains nine hundred fifty-two million, six hundred eighty-two thousand, five hundred twenty-two ryo."

Tsunade began to rub her hands together greedily before stating, "I do believe Konoha owes me, you, and Naruto a hefty retirement package. Wouldn't you agree Shizune?" asked the Godaime.

"Oh, absolutely Hokage-sama." answered Shizune with a slightly evil grin. Shizune may be one of to keep Tsunade in line but even she had her faults. One of which was a significantly greedy nature when it came to money matters. In her defense it was probably developed as a defensive measure to prevent Tsunade from gambling away every penny they ever earned.

"Excellent. Please fill out the paperwork to have five hundred million released into the Hokage's care. List it under black-ops or some other necessary and secretive function." ordered the Hokage.

"At once Shishou." stated Shizune, before she remembered something. "Before I go, Hinata just arrived, and she's waiting outside."

"Good, send her in on your way out." answered the Slug Sannin.

After giving her master and long-time friend a final bow, the young woman left the room, and a few moments later, young Hinata Hyuuga stepped in. The young girl seemed to be more than a little nervous at being called to her office and it showed when the girl meekly spoke up. "Y-you w-wished to s-see me, H-Hokage-sama?" she asked without raising her head.

"Yes Hinata, I did. Please take a seat." she said indicating the chair resting in front of her desk. After the young heiress was fully seated Tsunade spoke up again, "Now Hinata I'm not going to beat around the bush on this. The council, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to banish Naruto from Konoha. I expect them to make a formal announcement sometime in the next day or two." she stated bluntly, not letting any emotion show on her face.

"W-What? B-but why?" asked the young Hyuuga, tears already forming in her light lavender eyes.

"The official reason they're giving is because Naruto used excessive force in bringing back the Uchiha." answered the Hokage.

"T-That's ridiculous. N-Naruto-kun was m-more severely injured than t-the Uchiha." Hinata responded.

"Those were my word exactly. Now I have some things I need to ask you, and if your answers are what I think they are, then I have an offer you may like. Interested?" asked the Hokage.

Hinata stared at the elder blonde for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

"Good, now first question: Do you like Naruto and I mean really like him, as in more than a friend?"

Blushing like a tomato the young Hyuuga began to hyperventilate before she calmed down and slowly nodded her head, still blushing heavily.

"If you had the chance, would you go with him, even if it meant leaving your family and friends behind?" continued the Hokage

This question caused Hinata to stop for a moment. She thought of her family and her friend. _'Family, what family?'_ she questioned herself. _'Most of them hate me for either being too weak or for just being a member of the main house. The only ones there who even remotely care about me now are Neji and maybe Hanabi, and my relationship with both of them is limited. Father would probably be glad to see me gone so he could name Hanabi as the new clan heir. As for friends, the only people I'm really close with are Shino, Kiba, and Kurenai-sensei. Shino's too logical to really miss me much and he'd understand and Kiba's always been too forceful about trying to be in a relationship with me despite my constant refusals. Kurenai-sensei's been like a mother to me, but I'm sure she'd understand, she's supported my relationship with Naruto all this time. _

Taking a deep breath as her train of thought concluded the young Hyuuga heiress nodded her head yet again, though this time with a little more resolve than before.

Grinning widely Tsunade spoke to the girl, "Good, that's just the answer I was looking for. Now here's the offer. How'd you like to become my third apprentice?"

This question caught Hinata off guard, "E-Excuse me, b-but why w-would you want someone l-like me."

"Well from what I've read you have excellent chakra control, something that every good medic needs, and a lot of potential from what I've seen in your records. Second, you've got an attitude that I like, if we can break you of that nervousness. Finally, you care a lot about that little gaki who I've named my second apprentice."

"Y-You've named N-Naruto-kun your second apprentice?" asked a confused Hinata.

"That's right Hinata-chan, and as you know, where an apprentice isn't welcome, neither is their master and since Konoha is now banishing my second apprentice…well you see where that train of thought leads." explained Tsunade as an evil grin spread across her face.

As realization of what Tsunade was talking about dawned on Hinata a dozen thoughts surged through her mind, _'She's planning on leaving Konoha with Naruto, and she's inviting me to come with them. I'd get to travel with Naruto-kun, learn under one of the greatest shinobi of our time, and spend lots of time with Naruto-kun. I could finally get a chance. I'd have to leave Konoha, but I'd get to stay with Naruto-kun.'_ as her thoughts settled a small smile spread across the girls lips.

"W-Where do I s-sign T-Tsunade-shishou."

Tsunade smiled as she handed the young girl a set of papers that would make everything official. While the young girl filled out the needed paperwork, Tsunade turned her attention to the small pile of papers she'd left unsigned Grabbing the top sheet she began to sign and stamp each one.

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage and Namekuji Sannin, hereby name Hinata Hyuuga as my third apprentice._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby promote Hinata Hyuuga to the rank of Chuunin under my authority_

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby release Hinata Hyuuga from all duties, responsibilities, and form of binding agreement to Konoha, or the nation of Hi no Kuni in general._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, hereby pardon Hinata Hyuuga of all crimes against Konoha or the Fire Nation, past, present, or future, as long as I hold authority as Hokage._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby freely release Hinata Hyugga from her rank and responsibilities as a Konoha shinobi, while allowing her to retain any ranks and/or titles associated with her position._

_I Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage, do hereby emancipate Hinata Hyuuga from the Hyuuga Clan under my authority and place Tsunade Senju as the girl's primary legal guardian. _

Stamping the final command with the Hokage's official seal, Tsunade looked up to find her newest apprentice had finished signing the last document. Giving the girl a warm grin, "Well now that that's done, Hinata Hyuuga you are now officially my third apprentice. Welcome aboard." she finished with a warm grin, which the shy girl softly returned.

"T-Thank y-you Tsunade-shishou, I-I'll do m-my best not t-to disappoint y-you." responded the girl meekly.

'_We're seriously going to have to work on those self-esteem and confidence issues.'_ thought Tsunade. "Alright Hinata my first order as your sensei is to try and build up your confidence. I see a lot of potential in you young lady, but that's worth nothing unless you can see it in yourself. The least I want out of you is for you to get that stutter of yours under control." she stated in a strong tone.

"I-I" the girl stopped mid-sentence. She took a few deep breaths and then, "I'll do my best Shishou." she managed without a stutter.

"That's all I want Hinata, I can't ask for anything more." she said warmly. Tsunade's years of medical knowledge weren't limited to physical medicine; she also had more than a small understanding on human psychology. From Kurenai's reports on the girl, her home-life was filled with constant insults and degrading comments by a father who saw her as an utter failure. That kind of abusive environment bred two kinds of children: those who are angry at the world and those who were crushed by it. It seemed that Hinata was one of the later cases. The best way to help children like that was slow and steady care, plenty of support, and just being there for them when they needed it.

"Ano?" came the young girl's quiet question.

"Yes Hinata." asked Tsunade.

"W-When will we be leaving?" asked the younger girl managing only a slight stutter at the beginning.

"I'll need a few days to finish wrapping things up after Naruto awakens, which should be anytime now." answered the Slug Sannin, Before she could continue Shizune entered the room again.

"Shishou, I just finished visiting Naruto at the hospital, his vitals are recovering. Given everything involving Naruto he should be awake within the hour." stated the dark-haired apprentice.

"Well, well. Speak of the devil." stated the grinning Sannin. She then remembered her promise to the diminutive ninken Pakkun; the woman wrote a quick message on some spare parchment and summoned a slug. Turning the small gastropod she quickly gave it a short set of orders. "Please deliver this message to a ninken called Pakkun in the Ninken Summons Realm." she ordered. After a quick bowing of her eyestalks the slug disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Turning her attention back to her apprentices Tsunade smiled. "Now let's go make sure our favorite blonde is greeted by a few friendly faces when he first wakes up. I think he'll need them after the news I have to deliver." she finished somberly.

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_(Konoha Hospital, Main Lobby)_

Shikamaru Nara was not having the best couple of days. After he'd been released from the hospital a day ago after recovering from his fight with the sound nin Tayuya, he'd set out to speak with the rest of his team and apologize for his failure as a leader. It had actually started out well enough. Thanks to Tsunade's intervention Chouji was recovering nicely and would even be able to leave the hospital after a few days of rest. His large friend had been cheerfully chowing down on anything he could get his hands on to help regain his strength. The young Akimichi heir had put no blame on the young Nara for what had happened, he was just glad everyone had survived and the mission had been a success. Then there was Neji, the young Hyuuga prodigy had likewise put no blame on Shikamaru, stating that it was merely the risk involved in taking on such a mission. Kiba had been a royal pain in the ass, constantly how he was going to prove to Hinata how superior he was to Naruto. The Nara had listened for as long as he could to the damned dog-users ranting, but highly doubted the mission would change Hinata's favorite. The girl had been head-over-heels for Naruto since the academy; Shikamaru doubted one mission and one fight would change that. Lee had been…Troublesome. That word seemed to be designed for the spandex-wearing taijutsu expert.

The only member he'd been unable to see was Naruto, and now his inability to find the blonde was getting even more troublesome. Since yesterday rumors had begun circulating about the blonde being banished for some foul up on the mission, and Shikamaru didn't like that. He was team leader so he should be the one shouldering the blame not his knuckle-headed friend. Something was off here. In fact something had been off involving the way the blond was treated from the very beginning. The young Nara wasn't a genius for nothing. He'd noticed the constant state of animosity the whole village seemed to radiate against his friend. The sheer curiosity of it all had actually led him to start his unusual friendship with the blonde. Over the years he'd gotten to know the blonde he'd found no reason for the blonde to suffer the kind of animosity he suffered in the village. Whenever he'd questioned his father about the elder man would roll of some string about how the blonde was a trouble-maker. That had never flown with Shikamaru, even before his friendship with the blonde; he knew no kid, no matter how troublesome, would normally be on the receiving end of that kind of animosity. After getting to know the blonde for a little while, all the explanations started to make even less sense. The blonde was a nice guy, sure he was a little loud and like to pull pranks, but Shikamaru had deduced them as ways to gain attention rather than acting out.

Now with the rumors of him being banished and the pleased looks most of the older villagers were sporting he knew that something was seriously off, and the only person who could probably tell him the exact reasoning was the blonde.

Unfortunately, even finding the blonde was proving difficult. From what he'd found out the blonde had been badly injured bringing back Sasuke, and was now hospitalized, but no one seemed to be able, or willing, to tell him just where.

"Listen, I'm an old friend of Naruto's, and there's some very important I need to discuss with him." the young shadow-manipulator tried to reason with the main desk clerk.

"I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Uzumaki's room number is being held due to certain conditions regarding his treatment. The orders came directly from the Hokage." came the same uninformative reply.

"Troublesome." muttered the young Nara as he turned to head toward the Hokage's tower, hopefully she'd be able to shed some light on what the hell was going on.

As Shikamaru was heading for the main entranceway, he caught sight of just the person he was looking for. Tsunade had just strolled into the lobby, followed by Hinata and Shizune on either side.

"Tsunade-sama!" called out the young Nara.

Turning toward the caller, Tsunade instantly recognized the young Nara clan heir. "Shikamaru-san, what seems to be the trouble?"

"I've been trying to find Naruto for the past day or so, but it seems his room's being kept secret on your orders." answered the Nara bluntly.

"That's true. There was an incident after Naruto fought Sasuke, and I've put his room under security for his own protection." answered the Hokage as she continued to walk. "If you need to see him please come with us, he seems to be close to regaining consciousness and I have some important things to discuss with him when that happens."

The young Nara nodded his head and fell into formation behind the other two. After a few moments of walking the Nara asked, "Do these things you need to discuss with him have anything to do with the rumors going around about Naruto being banished, and what was this incident that led to such high security measures?"

"Yes it does" answered the Hokage sadly, "As for the incident, Naruto was betrayed by his sensei, Hatake Kakashi, and left for dead."

This news shocked the young Nara to his core. Loyalty was something that was deeply ingrained into every Konoha shinobi, and to hear of a jounin-sensei betraying his students, breaking one of the most important bonds in shinobi society, was nearly unthinkable. _'What the hell is going on?'_ mentally questioned the young Nara heir.

The four shinobi came to rest outside of a single room. "Cat, Bear. Report." came the Hokage's crisp orders.

Instantly two anbu wearing the appropriate animal masks appeared in front of the Hokage, both bowing on a single knee in respect. Cat was the one to speak up. "Hokage-sama, there have been no incidents since last night. I believe that anyone further involved has either given up after realizing we will not allow them to continue or have heard the rumors circulating about the boy's banishment and have decided there was no further need to make an attempt on his life."

That last part was what had hooked the two young ninja's attention. Hinata, was consumed with worry and Shikamaru, grew even more confused. Both were now questioning the reasons behind the level of animosity their friend was receiving. Tsunade nodded her head at this information and made a quick hand motion ordering both anbu back to their posts

As the four shinobi entered the room, TonTon leaped off the bed she was sharing with the young blonde and happily hoped into Shizune waiting arms, before snuggling deep into them. Tsunade took a seat by the blonde's bed while the rest remained standing.

Leaning against a nearby wall Shikamaru was the first to break the silence. "Tsunade-sama what the hell is going on?" asked the young Nara, deciding to go blunt on this one, being political or cunning would be way too troublesome. "First there are these rumors about Naruto being banished and nearly every adult in the village is smiling like its Christmas come early, then there's his own sensei betraying him, and now people are making attempts on his life while he's bedridden. Why the hell does this whole village seem to have it out for Naruto?"

A look that seemed to mix anger and sorrow crossed the elder Senju's face before she answered slowly, "I'm sorry Shikamaru, but the only one who can answer your question is Naruto himself. The only thing I can tell you is that a law made by my sensei forbids anyone from speaking of it without Naruto's permission under pain of death."

Before Shikamaru could respond the younger blonde began to stir. The younger blonde slowly opened his eyes to find the image of Tsunade smiling down on him. Smiling up at the older blonde he spoke up, "Hey Baa-chan how you doing?" he grinned up at her.

Tsunade smiled down at the blonde she'd come to view as her little brother, "Fine gaki, just fine. How about you, you feeling okay?" she asked concerned

"Just great Baa-chan, a little tired and a little sore but otherwise I'm good."

"Glad to hear it." she said smiling sadly at the blonde.

:Sitting up the blonde looked at Tsunade confused. "What's the matter Baa-chan you seem pretty upset."

"Naruto, I've got some bad news." answered the Slug Sannin with tears starting to form in her eyes.

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**END CHAPTER 3**

**So what does everyone think about his bloodline, I designed it using some of the abilities I've read that Kitsune in ancient myths possessed.**

**As for Kitsune-bi being a combination of Fire and Lightning, the old stories often say that Kitsune actually breathed out fire or lightning, so I used that as a base.**


	4. Truths Revealed and Contracts Forged

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

1**VanillaIce1**: Thanks for all the support, and I'm glad you've liked everything so far. For Jiraiya, yes he will join Tsunade and her squad but not for a while, and Kyuubi will be filling in as a strong, if extremely perverted, male figure for our blonde; though the fox will constantly attempt to turn our plucky blonde hero into a pervert, but then Jiraiya would probably do the same thing. Jiraiya's main job while still in Konoha will be keeping Konoha off their backs and in a constantly degrading state of chaos.

2**KayAGoldsiv87**: Thanks for the support, hope you like how it goes.

3**Benjamin236**: Thanks for saying so, and I hope you like how it develops.

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

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_"Naruto, I've got some bad news." answered the Slug Sannin with tears starting to form in her eyes._

**Chapter 4: Truths Revealed and Contracts Forged**

"What's the matter Baa-chan?" questioned the blonde, a sinking feeling forming in the bottom of his chest.

"Naruto, the council has given me orders to have you banished from Konoha." stated the teary eyed Tsunade, causing both Naruto and Shikamaru to drop their jaws in shock.

"B-But you're the Hokage. They can't order you around, that's against the rules!" exclaimed a desperate Naruto.

"Yes, but they've threatened me that if I don't have you banished they will take the case to the Fire Daimyo and move to have you executed. I-I can't risk losing you." she breathed out at the end.

Naruto stared at her for a minute, then his head dropped, "The reason they're banishing me, it's because of _that_, isn't it Baa-chan?" he asked quietly.

"I'm afraid so. They're officially proclaiming some pumped up charge about you using excessive force to bring the Uchiha back, but yes _that_ is the root of it." she stated solemnly.

Naruto continued to look down at his lap as his hands clutching the sheets for dear life, slowly his shoulders began to shake and tears began to fall from his eyes. The blonde slowly began to sob uncontrollably. In an instant Tsunade's arms were wrapped securely around Naruto, pulling him into a comforting embrace as the younger blonde continued to sob into her chest. After a few minutes of sobbing the blonde managed to sob out a few words. "What am I going to do now Baa-chan? What am I going to do?" he sobbed.

"_Shhhhh_. It's going to be okay Naruto." she whispered soothingly into his ear. "There's no way in hell I'm going to let those council-temes get away with this. I refuse to allow you to go through this on your own."

"Y-You're not?" asked a still tear-streaked blonde looking up at the older woman.

Tsunade smiled down at her favorite blonde and gently wiped away the tears lining his cheeks, "You'd better believe I'm not. In case you've forgotten, you're the only reason I came back to Konoha. If those temes thinks I'm going to sit by and let them banish my little brother they've got another thing coming. Now I can't go into any details here, but I need your help to make sure things go smoothly."

"What can I do Baa-chan?" asked the blonde, his voice regaining some of its usual life and bluster.

Tsunade smiled, "Your banishment doesn't officially start until after you're fully healed, so I need you to buy us some time and play sick. Just lie around in bed all day for the next couple of days, okay."

Before the blonde could respond Kyuubi's voice echoed through his mind, **"That's actually a pretty good idea, it'll give us some time to work on your education, and for me to teach you how to work your bloodline."** The blonde seemed ready to speak but Kyuubi cut him off again, **"Don't talk out loud kit, just think and I'll hear you. We wouldn't want your friends thinking you've gone bonkers."**

The blonde mentally responded, _"Kyuubi? How the hell are you talking to me?"_

"**Slight side-effect of generating your bloodline kit, it linked us telepathically. Now I believe it's time you explained what happened between us to your Busty Grandma. By the way, that was a nice hug. I'm going to be enjoying memories of being buried in that valley for years to come." **finished the fox with a perverted laugh.

Returning to reality the blonde found Tsunade staring at him with a worried expression on her face. "Um Baa-chan can we talk alone for a minute, it involves _that_." he whispered quietly to her

Tsunade looked at him for a moment before she turned to Shizune, "Shizune take Shikamaru and Hinata outside for a moment, I need to do a quick check-up on Naruto and I'll need a little privacy" she ordered.

Getting a nod the elder apprentice ushered the other two genin out the door, much to Hinata's disappointment and Shikamaru's growing confusion. As the door closed Tsunade's attention returned to the younger blonde sitting in front of her. "Okay gaki, what's going on, and how does it involve the fox?"

Naruto actually broke into a small grin before he stated, "You're not gonna' believe this, but while I was out I got drawn into my mindscape and…"

_**

* * *

**_

_(Meanwhile, Outside the Room)_

Shikamaru was standing across the hall from the room while Shizune and Hinata stood on either side. Finally deciding to break the silence that seemed to fill the hallway Shikamaru spoke up, "So, does _that_, happen to be the secret the Hokage told us about while we were waiting?" asked the young Nara.

Shizune looked up at the young Chuunin and nodded her head ever so slightly. As the silence returned each of the three waiting ninja was wrapped in their own thoughts, all concerning Naruto.

Shikamaru was trying to solve the puzzle that was Naruto Uzumaki. Now normally Shikamaru may have dismissed things like this as troublesome, but the young Nara just couldn't seem to get this mystery out of his head. _'What is this secret? There's no way Naruto could have done something severe enough to merit this kind of treatment. If he did, then Naruto would have shown some sign of guilt, and keeping it a secret would have been a mute point since he would have been at fault. There's also the fact that he's been on the receiving end of this treatment for as long as I've known him, and no kid could do something that would cause this level of animosity. That leaves two main options: either a relative of his did something and the blame is being transferred to Naruto, or something happened when Naruto was either born or was a kid and somehow he is being blamed for it. Naruto's an orphan so the first option isn't likely unless his heritage was sealed or people are making an assumption given his name or his appearance. Uzumaki, that name doesn't sound familiar and if anyone had done something worth that kind of hatred they'd be pretty well-known, and the only blondes ever really mentioned in Konoha's history are the Yamanaka clan and the Yondaime and being related to either wouldn't generate this kind of scorn. That leaves option two, but what do I know about Naruto's childhood? The only thing I really know about him is that he was born on the day of the Kyuubi attack. Could that be it? Could everyone think Naruto is somehow related to the Kyuubi? That doesn't make any sense. The only thing about him that remotely resembles a fox are those weird birthmarks on his cheek. There's no way that would lead to this kind of hatred. There has to be something more to this, but what?'_

Hinata was also trying to puzzle out the mystery behind Naruto's treatment but her thoughts were more concerned for the blonde's current status than the reasons behind it. _'Oh Naruto-kun. Why does everyone seem to be so set against you? You've always been so kind, so nice to everyone around you, but they still treat you so badly. I wish I could have had the courage to be near you sooner, to show you you had someone who would be there for you. I promise from now on I'll never leave your side. I'll be there to protect and help you in any way I can.'_

Shizune was more concerned with recent events, since she already knew the blonde's secret. As she thumbed through the reports the anbu guards had given her, her thoughts were less than pleased. _'Hmm, this is definitely bad. I didn't think that the village had this level of animosity toward Naruto. Doctors and nurses trying to poison him in his bed, active and retired shinobi trying to sneak in and attack him, this does not bode well. Even with all the security measures Tsunade's taking to make sure Konoha can't officially pursue us, there's still the chance of some ninja deciding to take matters in their own hands. Hopefully Tsunade's reputation will keep most of those from trying anything, and the fact that actually plotting any attempts to go against her orders would be treason will keep any large groups from forming. There's still the threat of the council forming a band of ninja beneath the table to attack us, but that'll take time, and they won't be able to create too large a group either or they'll risk being detected. Hopefully our team will be strong enough to handle any group they send. Now there's also Naruto's condition, after all that's happened I'm not surprised he's so shaken up, but what was that he whispered to Tsunade? I'll have to ask her later.'_

The three ninja were quickly pulled out of their thoughts as a new voice made itself known. "Excuse me, but is this the room of one Naruto Uzumaki?"

X

_(Back inside the room)_

A slightly stunned Tsunade sat in her share one hand resting in her lap while the other rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay, just to make sure I've got this all clear. While you were unconcious and recovering in your room you got dragged into your mindscape and talked to Kyuubi. The fox has actually come to respect you because of everything that's happened and told you about Haruno, Uchiha, and Hatake's actions while you were out of it. The fox offered you a bargain; he'd give you a bloodline if you'd help him kill my teme of a former teammate and a second party who were actually responsible for the Kyuubi Attack fourteen years ago. Does that about cover it?" asked the elder blonde while she rubbed her nose to forestall the headache she felt coming.

"Pretty much Baa-chan, but you forgot to mention how the fox and I have a mental link now and how the oversized fuzz-ball's a total pervert." finished Naruto with a grin. Tsunade's promises had eased the blonde's doubts enough that he was able to return to a semblance of his usual high spirits.

"Kami, can't anything be simple with you?" asked the elder blonde while she rubbed her temples, though she didn't hide the grin that had spread across her face.

"Afraid not." answered the younger blonde, before his voice dropped slightly, "Hey Baa-chan. I know how much Konoha loves bloodlines. Do you think if we told the council about mine, they'd let me stay?" he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

Tsunade looked down at him sadly and shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not the likeliest solution. They'd probably either claim it was the Kyuubi's doing, which in this case they'd be right for once in their lives, and use it to have you executed, or they'd order sperm samples be taken from you so they could impregnate some civilian women to gain your bloodline and then banish you once the fertilization was a success."

"But what if we told them the truth about Kyuubi's attack, that it wasn't his fault?" asked the blonde desperately.

"They'd never believe us. They've lived in hatred and fear of the Kyuubi as a rampaging monster for so long that accepting any other solution would be impossible for them." she answered sadly.

"So I guess there's no way I'm gonna' get to stay huh?" asked the blonde in a depressed fashion.

"Afraid not," answered Tsunade before she reached out and placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder, "but like I said before, I'm not letting you go through this alone."

The blonde rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve, before smiling up at the elder blonde. "Thanks Baa-chan." he said softly.

Tsunade smiled down at him before ruffling his hair good-naturedly. "Don't worry about it gaki." she smiled down at him.

However their warm, heart-felt moment was interrupted by Shizune's voice coming from behind the door. "Tsunade-sama, Naruto has some more guests."

"Guests?" wondered Tsunade aloud, Naruto's room was supposed to be a secret. "What kind of guests?" she asked.

"The canine kind." came Shizune's response.

That threw Tsunade for a momentary loop before she remembered her message to Pakkun. "It's alright, I'm done. You can all come in." she answered.

The door opened slowly and in walked three dogs followed by Shizune, Hinata, and Shikamaru. The first dog Naruto instantly recognized as the small pug he currently owed his life to, Pakkun. Naruto couldn't help but notice that the hitai-ate the dog wore across his head was now blank. Following him was the biggest dog he'd ever seen in his life. She was huge, easily standing at least five, maybe six feet tall at the shoulders and a good seven feet long from tip to tail. She had short, dull, silver-blue fur covering most of its long lean form except for a few splashes of black across her face, chest, and paws. **(AN: Look up Great Dane for an appropriate image). **The giant hound also wore a blank hitai-ate wrapped around her neck, a small silver vest across her large back, with the kanji for _'silver'_ on it, and had a slightly longer-than-average tantō strapped to her back. Bringing up the rear of the canine procession was a large collie with a large scroll strapped to its back and a blank hitai-ate wrapped around her throat.

Pakkun hoped up onto Naruto's lap and gave the boy a short sniff. "Hey pup, glad to see you're feeling better." came the small pug's grizzled greeting.

"Only because of you and your squad Pakkun, thanks for saving me when Hatake-teme left me for dead. I seriously owe you one. Sorry about messing up your relationship with Hatake and causing you so much trouble. I can't imagine he's taking you saving me well." stated the blonde as he reached out and started to pet the small dog's head in gratitude.

"Don't worry about it pup. You didn't deserve that kind of treatment, and Hatake can kiss my furry ass. Actually speaking of that teme, he's actually part of the reason we're here, and part of the reason we need to speak to you." responded the pug. He easily jumped off the blonde's lap and stepped in front of the large dog. "Naruto Uzumaki, allow me to introduce you to Ginko-sama, current head of the Ninken Summoning Contract."

"Greetings young Uzumaki." stated the large dog in a strong but feminine voice, as she gave the young blonde a short bow.

"It's a pleasure, Ginko-sama." stated the blonde returning the bow. "What is it you needed to talk to me about?"

"You see, we Ninken prize loyalty above all else, and _Hatake's_," the large dog practically growled out the name, "actions against you violate everything our kind stands for. For such a crime there is only one punishment, complete banishment from our contract and those of our allies."

Both Shizune and Tsunade gave small gasps at this, while Naruto and the rest of the ninja looked confused. It was Naruto, unsurprisingly, who broke the silence. "I'm sorry, but what does complete banishment mean? That he can't summon your kind again?" questioned the blonde.

Tsunade answered for the dog. "Not just that Naruto. Complete banishment from a contract means that not only will Kakashi never be able to summon again, but neither will any of his children or their children as long as they bare the Hatake name. Added to that, most summons will shun someone who's earned this level of punishment. Basically that means Hatake's entire clan will never be able to sing a summoning contract again."

"Wow, Hatake may be a jerk, but I don't think his kids deserve to be punished for his actions." stated Naruto thoughtfully.

Ginko actually smiled; at least Naruto thought it was a smile, at that. "It seems Pakkun was not lying when he said you were an honorable one Uzumaki, but that's beside the point. You see the Ninken Clan has been the summons for the Hatake clan for many generations, and now with Kakashi and his ilk now forbidden from signing our contract we are in need of a new summoner, and Pakkun has suggested you for that position." she finished calmly.

"M-me?" asked a surprised Naruto. "But why me, and I've already signed the Toads Contract. Can a person even have multiple contracts?"

"To answer your questions pup, yes humans can have multiple contracts. In fact, in ancient times, before your villages were founded, there were ninja who specialized in signing multiple summoning contracts and working with dozens of different breeds of summons. They were called the **Shōkan-ō** (Summons Kings) in honor of their strong relationship with large numbers of different summons. Sadly their kind faded away with time. The sheer amount of chakra needed for someone to sign, maintain, and effectively use so many contracts was enough to drive their path to extinction. As for why we chose you, Pakkun told me of you, and the strong loyalty you've shown. I have also spoken with Gamabunta of the Toads, and he has spoken quite highly of your loyalty. Speaking of how you fought the one-tail by his side to protect a friend, and how you single-handedly stood against a powerful servant of Manda's summoner to protect the elder blonde. His sons also spoke highly of you and how you seek to defend a village that treats you so poorly in order to protect the few you care for." answered the large dog honestly.

"Actually," stated a now depressed Naruto, "I won't be protecting Konoha any longer. I've been banished."

This statement caused the Great Dan sitting in front of him to raise her eyebrow, "Why?" she asked simply.

"The official reason is because I used _'excessive force'_ to bring back Sasuke." answered the blonde.

Pakkun audibly growled at this, "That's bull crap, you were at least twice as injured as that little brat in the fight." growled out the pug.

"My thoughts exactly." snorted out Tsunade.

"If that's not the true reason, then what is." asked Gintō never losing her calm voice.

"Well it's because…" the blonde trailed off slightly while rubbing his stomach.

"Because you hold the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed inside you?" asked the large dog.

That caused an instant reaction from the other two teenagers in the room. Hinata fainted dead off, and Shikamaru's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"You weren't supposed to say that out loud." shouted the blonde.

"Forgive me; I didn't know it was a secret." apologized the dog, her voice never losing its calm edge.

Meanwhile Shikamaru's brain was going a mile a minute. _'Naruto's got the Kyuubi sealed inside of him? That explains it. That's why all the adults treat him like the plague. But Naruto's not the Kyuubi is he? No, that doesn't make any sense. If he was the Kyuubi he wouldn't have suffered through all the abuse this village had put him through. I need more information.'_

Shikamaru slowly took a deep breath before he spoke up. "Naruto, mind explaining what she just said." asked the young Nara clan heir.

Naruto instantly went through his brain, searching for a lie, an excuse, anything to avoid telling his friend the truth and having him hating him like the rest of the village. Suddenly the blonde felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned to see Tsunade who'd just put Hinata in a chair by his bed. "Naruto," she said soothingly, "I think you should tell them the truth."

"B-but Baa-chan…" started the blonde, before Tsunade caught him off guard.

"I know you're scared that he and Hinata will hate you like most of the village seems to, but they deserve the truth. Besides, I doubt after you're gone, the council will keep the Sandaime's law around any longer than they have to, and I know they won't give them the whole truth. I think this may be your best bet to make sure your friends know the whole truth." she explained calmly.

The blonde stared at her for a while, face filled with doubts as he tried to make up some excuse, some reason to avoid the truth, but he eventually nodded his head, understanding her point.

Slowly taking in a few deep breaths the blonde stared at Shikamaru for a few moments before, "You remember when my birthday is, and what they taught us about the Kyuubi attack in the Academy?" he asked.

Shikamaru nodded his head slowly, "October tenth the same day as the Kyuubi Attack, and they taught us that the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi, sacrificing himself to slay it. I'm taking that wasn't the truth, or at least not the whole truth?"

The blonde slowly shook his head. "No it's not." answered the blonde, "You see the Kyuubi is a being of pure chakra, unkillable by any means, mortal or otherwise. Instead of killing it the Yondaime sacrificed himself to seal it away in the only vessel strong enough to hold it. An infant whose umbilical cord had just been cut." answered the blonde as he lifted his shirt and channeled some chakra to reveal the seal on his stomach. "This is that seal. The thing that keeps the Kyuubi sealed inside me and marks me as its Jinchuuriki, a human sacrifice to protect the village. Ojiji told me that the Fourth wanted me to be seen as a hero for what I contain, for protecting the village." finished the blonde.

"I see, and the villagers…" he trailed off. Shikamaru was starting to understand, and he didn't like what he was learning.

"They see me as the Kyuubi reborn, the fox trapped in a human shell. That's why Ojiji made that law, forbidding anyone from talking about my relationship with the fox. He hoped I'd be able to at least have a normal childhood, but…" stated the blonde sadly as his voice trailed off.

"He underestimated how much humans hate and fear what they don't understand." finished Shikamaru angrily, recalling the times his own parents had told him to stay away from the blonde. "And now they're banishing just for having the fox sealed inside you?" he asked getting a nod from the blonde. Shikamaru suddenly shouted and rammed his fist into a nearby wall leaving a large spiderweb of cracks. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." growled out the young Nara.

Naruto was more than a little surprised by his friend's angry action, especially since it wasn't directed at him. "You don't hate me now?" questioned the blonde quietly.

The young Nara turned toward his long-time friend and shook his head. "Of course not." answered Shikamaru. "You're no demon; anyone who took even a second to talk to you would know that, and we've been friend for too long for me to even think that about you. You're just a good-natured buffoon with a serious ramen addiction." finished the young Nara with a small grin.

Naruto quickly rubbed the back of his eyes to keep the tears from flowing. "Thanks Shika, I just hope that Hinata agrees with yo…" his statement was cut off as said Hyuuga tackled him into a large hug. It seems the young Hyuuga heiress had woken up when Naruto had started his story and had quickly made her decision on the matter.

"Naruto-kun is Naruto-kun, anyone who can't see past the fox is a baka." sobbed out the young Hyuuga heiress as she buried her face in his chest. That is until she realized what she was doing and promptly fainted again, this time her face showing a major blush.

"I think you can take that as a heartfelt agreement with me." answered Shikamaru with a smug grin. Naruto could only nod as he helped resettle Hinata into her seat.

"I'm glad that that matter has been resolved." came the voice of Ginko, who everyone had forgotten about in the sudden excitement.

"Yeah, sorry about snapping at you like that Ginko-san, I was just a little suprised." apologized the blonde.

"No harm done young Uzumaki." reassured the large dog. "Now as I was saying, Is the fact that you hold the Kyuubi the reason they are banishing you?"

"Hai." answered the blonde in a depressed tone.

"Well then you are at no fault for it, so it doesn't affect my decision to offer you our contract." finished the large Dane.

"But doesn't you clan serve Konoha? Isn't that why you have its symbol on your forehead protectors?" asked the blonde.

"Our hitai-ate bear the mark of our master's village or of his clan." answered Pakkun. "They are a mark of our loyalty to them, not a village."

"That is correct." agreed Ginko. "You have shown loyalty beyond what many human's I've seen are capable of. That is what makes you worthy as our summoner."

Naruto blushed at the praise before he nodded his head. "I'd be honored to accept the Ninken Summoning Contract." he said with a low bow.

"Excellent." stated Ginko, before she motioned her head for the collie bearing the contract to step forward. The smaller dog gently hopped onto the edge of Naruto's bed and shrugged of the contract so it rested in the blonde's lap. Naruto slowly unrolled the scroll until he came to a blank segment. As the blonde looked at the scroll he noticed that over half the names on the scroll read out Hatake, which wasn't surprising considering it was a clan scroll. He also noticed that Kakashi's name, instead of being black or red for a former or current contract holder, was written in a venomous green. Biting his fingers Naruto quickly wrote his name in the blank spot next to Kakashi's before placing his hand-print directly below it. Rerolling the scroll Naruto returned it to the collie, who took it without a word. In an instant all three of the Ninken's hitai-ate adopted a swirl in the center.

"The contract is complete." stated Ginko. "I and the rest of my clan look forward to fighting by your side in the future, Naruto-sama." she finished with a low bow, followed closely by the collie and Pakkun.

"Thank you." stated the blonde quietly returning the bow. "I'll do everything in my power to prove myself worthy of this great gift." he spoke softly.

Ginko merely smiled at him again. "I'm sure you will child, I am sure you will. Now before I go I have a final gift to give you." she stated calmly, before shrugging her shoulders to bring the tantō on her back to a position where she grabbed it with her mouth before carrying it forward and presenting it to Naruto. The blonde slowly took the blade in both hands and held it before him. "That is the _Hakkō Chakura Tō_ (White Light Chakra Saber), an ancient weapon my clan have given to their summoner since our contract was forged. Its blade is sharp beyond compare and when chakra is channeled through it, it will release a stream of pure white chakra. Summon me when you are ready and fully recovered and I will teach you the techniques for it."

"Hatake mentioned that blade before, saying it was a family heirloom. He also said that it was destroyed in the war by an Iwa nin." stated the Hokage.

Ginko snorted, "As if a blade like this could be broken so easily by human hands. Kakashi lost the right to bear that blade when his cowardice and bigotry cost his friend his life. It was only because of his father's abilities and many great deeds as our summoner that we allowed him to retain the contract after that. Even then he was limited to only a single pack of ninken until he proved himself worthy of redemption. Obviously that was a mistake." she finished with a slight growl.

"Umm Ginko-san?" came our young blonde's questioning voice.

"Yes Naruto-sama." came the large dog's reply.

"What exactly can the Ninken Summons do? I know from working with Pakkun that they're great trackers, but what else can they do."

"That depends entirely on who you summon Naruto-sama. While nearly all of us are excellent trackers, there are also those who are better at combat. Our clan as a whole can dig through the earth as easily as you humans swim in the water, and that ability is used in many of our combination attacks. You should know that while each of us ninken can be summoned as individuals; we prefer to be called in our packs. Each pack has its own function. Pakkun's pack, for instance is a balanced squad between combat and tracking, and my pack is primarily a combat squad. If that's all Naruto-sama I think it's time we return home." after getting a nod of approval the three ninken disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Well you've certainly had a lively day for someone who hasn't left their room." stated Tsunade with a small smirk.

"Yeah I guess so." stated the blonde as he studied his new weapon. Suddenly a thought occurred to the blonde and he turned his attention to Shikamaru, who was currently resting against the wall. "Hey Shika." he called out.

"What?" called out the Nara heir annoyed at being disturbed.

"If you told the rest of the rookies about the fox, how do you think they would react?" asked the blonde, slightly nervous.

Shika was silent for a moment as he adopted his 'thinking pose.' After a few moments he answered, "Chouji would react the same way I did, he's been your friend for as long as I have and would probably get pretty pissed when he finds out how badly you've been treated. Ino…would be really surprised, but despite her fangirl tendencies she's a good friend, and she'd stick by your side. I know Lee would over-react and start spouting off about how '_unyouthful,'_" the young Nara gave a small shutter at the word; "the village has been to you. I don't know the rest of Team Gai well enough to make any decisions though.

"N-Neji-niisan would understand." stated Hinata's quiet tone. The young Hyuuga was once again conscious and had decided to put in her own two cents. "He understands b-better than most what it's like to have a s-seal dictate your life. Kiba…I-I'm not sure about. He's h-had a bit of a g-grudge against you s-since you beat him in the C-Chuunin Exams, and I-I don't really f-feel like I k-know him as well as I did before. H-He's always been a b-bit…prideful, but nice e-enough, but since he l-lost to you h-he's been acting pretty v-vindictive. As for S-Shino-kun I know y-you can trust him. H-He's very l-logical and his c-clan also has to deal w-with a great deal of p-prejudice for what they hold within t-themselves."

"If there's one clan you can trust it's the Aburames." agreed Tsunade "They were the only members of the clan council that voted against your banishment."

Hinata and Shikamaru didn't miss that nugget of information. Hinata wasn't really surprised, in fact she expected it of her father; the man had always hated Naruto, and had constantly belittled him in front of her just to mock her as well. Shikamaru, on the other hand was both surprised and pissed. His father had always taught him to not judge others and to think things out logically, but here the man was voting for Naruto's banishment because of something his friend couldn't control. This did not bode well for the future of the Nara clan.

"Why are you asking them about this Naruto?" came Shizune's question.

"Well I was hoping Shika could tell everyone the truth about the fox once I was gone." answered the blonde.

"Why me? Why not just tell them yourself before you leave?" asked the annoyed Nara.

"Because if I tell them myself before I leave the council may find out about and try to use it against me to have me executed for 'trying to corrupt the youth of Konoha' or something like that. Also you're a lot smarter than me Shika, and I know you'll be able to tell them better than I could. You've got my permission to tell them, so that should protect you from the Law, and you can tell whoever you want, whenever you feel the time is right. Will you do this for me Shika?" asked the blonde.

"Fine." sighed out the Nara, before muttering a short "troublesome" under his breath.

"Well everyone I think our blonde patient has had enough excitement for one day. We'll check back in soon Naruto, until then your body is still recovering so take it easy." stated Tsunade in her best 'doctor's orders' voice as she began to usher the small group out the door. Everyone left with a chorus of goodbyes, leaving our blonde hero alone with TonTon, his new sword, his thoughts…

"**Alright kit now that they're gone we better get started. We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're going to make up for half-a-lifetime's worth of sabotage. Luckily for us time passes slower in your mindscape, so it's off to school."**

…and his annoying giant, red tutor.

* * *

**END CHAPTER 4**

**Know some people won't like our blonde hero blubbering and acting so desperate, but you have to understand, Naruto's life and dreams were just crushed, anyone would be a little depressed and desperate after something like that.**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	5. Meetings: Both Good and Ill

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

1**KayAGoldsiv87**: Thanks for the support. Naruto's complete elements are under-wraps for the time being but thanks to his bloodline he has a strong Fire and Lightning affinity. My plans for Itachi and Akatsuki are also still under-wraps, mostly because I'm not completely finished with them yet. Yeah Shika's gonna cause some chaos in the Leaf once he's sure Naruto safely away, but I'll give no details just yet.

2**VanillaIce1**: Thanks for all the support, and glad I was able to surprise you. I wanted to introduce the meaning for the title earlier, but having the Ninken Summons explain was the best fit, to tease my readers about what will come in the future.

3**Neuanfang**: Thanks, and I always thought it was a cool weapon, and this was a great opportunity to give it to him.

4**Dar**_**th**_** Anthony**: Glad you're cool with, and yeah they'll be a couple older women in it, but I'm not telling who.

5**UMMX**: I just used the old legends as a base to develop some of the abilities, just a bit of inspiration taken from the ancient stories of the past.

6**chm01**: still appreciating it.

7**UMMX**: That would have been funny, but I wanted a bit more serious and realistic tone in my stories.

8**raw666**: I was saving that realization for a future chapter, thanks for spoiling it dude…just kidding. As for Anko, I've got plans for what happens to her.

9**Benjamin236**: Thanks for all the support, glad you like what happened.

11**Moonprincess202**: Thanks, I hope you like how it continues.

**Note: 10 is missing for a reason, I don't respond to Flamers**

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**Chapter 5: Meetings: Both Good and Ill**

As Tsunade, Hinata, Shizune, and Shikamaru left the hospital; Tsunade looked up and noticed the position of the sun. It was getting close to noon, and she had her meeting with Jiraiya to discuss the details of her plan with the man, as well as explain and convince _(i.e. threaten)_ him into going along with it. Turning her attention to the two young chuunin, though only one officially had the title, she began to give out orders. "Hinata, I'd like you to return to your home and tell your father that I need to meet with him this evening at seven in my office. Tell him it involves an important political matter, and that I want you to accompany him. If he asks for a reason merely say that the matter involves you directly." Hinata nodded her head before setting off to go speak with her father. Tsunade turned her attention to Shikamaru, "Now Shikamaru, what happened up in that room and the things we discussed need to remain tight lipped for a while. You now understand that there are forces at work in this village that want to see serious harm come to that gaki I see as a little brother, and if anything happens to him because you let something slip…Well let's just say I'll show you a whole new meaning to the word 'troublesome'. A very bloody, very painful meaning, understand?" she finished while cracking her knuckles in a slightly threatening manner. While she trusted and even liked the young Nara heir, time and experience had taught her that it never hurt to add a little intimidation when it came to important matters.

Shikamaru gulped slightly at that, the Nara heir knew the elder blonde was not bluffing. "No need to worry Hokage-sama. Like I said before, Naruto's been my friend for a long time and I'm not about to betray him for something he couldn't control. Besides it would be too troublesome to do something like that." answered the young Nara, before he turned and left.

"Glad that's settled, now I'm off to speak with a super-pervert and I do believe you still have to head to the bank Shizune." stated the blonde to her dark-haired companion, who responded with a short bow before the two set off in opposite directions.

_(A few moments later, Hokage Tower, Top Floor)_

Tsunade walked down the hallway approaching her office, turning the final corner she was greeted by the sight of her old teammate, the Toad Sage Jiraiya, standing right outside the doorframe, and wearing an expression that somehow mixed worry, fear, and anger all at once. "You're early you old pervert." she called out with a large smirk plastered across her face as she approached the large man. "Which threat motivated you the most, the one to your precious research material, your perverted legacy of novels, or your manhood?" she asked as she opened the doors to her office so they could talk in private.

"Were the threats really necessary hime? You know I am at your beck and call if you but utter my name." came the flirtatious response of the great perverted sage. Tsunade ignored him as she did a quick handseal to activate the privacy seals imbedded in the walls, and felt the momentary flare of chakra around them that indicated they'd activated successfully.

"This is too important to risk Jiraiya." responded the blonde seriously as she sat down behind her desk. The tone of the woman's voice had hardened from the good-natured tone she'd assumed when they were talking outside to a strict and commanding one.

Jiraiya recognized that tone immediately, Tsunade only took that tone when she was utterly serious about something. It was a voice he'd come to fear from their younger days, when that voice was directed at him whenever she'd threaten to castrate him if she caught him peeking on her. Something was definitely wrong. "What's the matter Tsunade?" he asked his own voice becoming serious.

"It's those bastards in the council. Yesterday they pretty much ordered me to have Naruto banished or they'd see him dead by any means necessary." she stated shortly.

"THEY DID WHAT!" roared the aged sage, a shocked and enraged look filling his usually jovial face.

"You heard me Jiraiya." came the woman's icy reply.

"I think you'd better start at the beginning." stated Jiraiya as calmly as he could.

Tsunade nodded her head and began to tell Jiraiya everything that had happened over the past few days, from Kakashi's betrayal, as Pakkun had told it to her, to her recent visit to Naruto's hospital room and learning about the Kyuubi's gift to Naruto and revealing the truth to both Hinata and Shikamaru. By the end of the story nearly an hour had passed and Jiraiya was looking ready to kill something.

"That slimy little masked bastard." growled out the Toad Sage, his long mane of spiky white hair becoming even sharper and spikier, a few even launching off and imbedding deep into the nearest wall, while his oversized fists clenched repeatedly. "I swear if I ever get my hands on that little rodent I'll shove that mask of his so far down his throat, he'll be using it as toilet paper. And those council bastards, I'll hunt each and every one of them down and then I'll…"

"That's enough Jiraiya." came Tsunade's sharp tone, cutting off Jiraiya's tirade before it could build up any steam. "As much as I'd love to hear about what you'd like to do to those bastards, and how much I'd _**love**_ to go on a rampage with you, right now we've got bigger problems. Like what happens to Naruto."

"I thought I was. We go in, find everyone in the council and rip them to shreds." snarled out the enraged Sannin.

"And then what?" asked Tsunade, playing the voice of reason. "Even if you and I can kill off the entire council, which given our skills wouldn't be much of a challenge, what happens then? I'll tell you what, the survivors organize and go to the Fire Daimyo. We'll be labeled traitors and be hunted down and Naruto will still be banished. Or worse, they'll try and blame everything we do on Naruto, saying he corrupted or manipulated us, and have him executed."

Jiraiya deflated a little at Tsunade's reasoning before he finally managed to cool down. "I take it you have a better plan?" he asked.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." answered Tsunade a large and evil smirk plastered across her face as she set about telling Jiraiya her plan. It took nearly another hour to answer all the toad sage's questions.

At the end Jiraiya was nodding slowly with his head slightly cupped by one large palm. "It's a pretty good plan, but why shouldn't I be the one to take Naruto out of Konoha? I'm already his sensei and you're already the Hokage. It seems like it would save us both some extra trouble." came the sage's final question.

"I've got three good reasons. First, you're better at all this below-the-table, covert and subtle, political crap than I am. You'll be able to do more damage and better hold off the council's attempts than I ever could. Second, it'll cause a lot more chaos if the current Hokage leaves for good, rather than the '_wandering sage_,' and that's exactly what we want for the time being. To cause as much chaos in Konoha as we can." answered Tsunade with a smirk.

Jiraiya nodded his head; those were some pretty good reasons. "And the third reason?" he asked.

Tsunade's smirk grew downright malicious as she answered, "Those mother-fuckers dared to try and order me around and turn me into their faithful little puppet by threatening my baby brother. I want them to know that doing that to a Kage, a Senju, and a woman most of all, is a really, _really_ bad idea." she finished with a near demonic snarl at the end.

"That's your big reason?" asked Jiraiya, though some little part of his brain was telling him to let it go.

"It's either that or the fact that I can and will fulfill the final part of my earlier threat here and now if you don't agree with me." replied the Slug Sannin, her voice laced with subtle killing intent.

Jiraiya audibly gulped. "Suddenly, your reasoning makes a whole lot more sense to me. I'm in complete and total agreement." he answered quickly.

Tsunade gave him a small, slightly evil, grin. "So glad to hear that, Rokudaime-dono." she said while she smirked between interlaced fingers, _'Everything's going according to plan. Now I can only hope that a bit of the gaki's luck has rubbed off on me. I'm going to need every drop of it, if I want my next meeting to go just as smoothly._'

_****_

_(7pm, Outside Hokage's Office)_

Hiashi Hyuuga was feeling a strange combination of annoyed, worried, and slightly hopeful. He was annoyed at being called to a private meeting by the Hokage, along with his failure of an eldest child, and that old crow of a Hokage had the nerve to dictate orders to him, the head of the illustrious Hyuuga Clan, like he was a fresh genin. He was worried because he knew that the Hokage bared a grudge against him, due to his outspoken nature on having the Kyuubi-brat banished. Could she be calling him to exert some kind of petty vengeance on him? He wasn't worried that the woman would kill him, well mostly he wasn't. Even the Hokage couldn't get away with murdering a clan head without just cause, and he knew she had nothing on him and that she was smart enough not to try it. That still left some sort of political sabotage to damage his or his clan's reputation. The only bright side to this was the fact that it involved his eldest daughter. With any luck, what the Hokage had planned would get the girl killed or at least give him enough reason to have her regulated to the Branch Family so he could name Hanabi the new clan heir.

As the Hyuuga clan head entered the office he found Tsunade sitting at her desk, her apprentice, Shizune he thought the girl's name was, standing at her side. On the other side of the desk was a pair of comfortable chairs, one slightly larger and more elaborate in design than the other, but neither as lavish as the one the kage was sitting in. "You wished to see us, Hokage-sama?" he said in the typical cold, emotionless tone that the Hyuuga prided themselves on.

The woman stared at Hiashi for a moment before she spoke up. "I did Hyuuga-dono, please take a seat." she said while indicating the chairs in front of her desk.

Hiashi used a special Hyuuga clan technique to activate his dojutsu for the briefest of moments to scan the chair for any possible assassination tools. Finding nothing on his chair, and not even bothering to check his daughter's, the Hyuuga leader quickly sat himself into the larger of the two seats, with Hinata quickly following behind in the seat next to him. After both had been and the Hokage hadn't continued he decided to start the conversation again. "You told my daughter that there was a political matter that involved myself and her." Hiashi had decided to forgo the necessary political niceties since the room was secluded, and all the parties inside knew of the two's rather large distaste for each other.

Tsunade instantly recognized the lack of formalities and decided to reciprocate and go for the blunt. "It's rather simple, Hiashi-san. I wish to name your daughter as my newest apprentice." the statement wasn't a lie, even if she'd already made it official on paper, until it was publicly announced or the paper shown it wasn't completely official.

"You what?" asked the Hyuuga clan head. This was certainly not what he'd expected. "And why pray-tell do you want _her_?" he asked as if he was referring to something repugnant.

Tsunade slightly twitched at the insult to the girl, "I see a great deal of potential in your daughter, something that I can shape into an exemplary medical nin." she stated honestly.

Hiashi was thinking, _'What on earth could she be planning?'_ he thought to himself. Hiashi was a master at reading others, as were all true masters of the Byakugan, and he couldn't detect any lies coming from the woman sitting in front of him. To gather more information he asked a new question. "What exactly would this training of your contain."

"Medic training as well as my strength-enhancement techniques." answered Tsunade setting the bait and now throwing the line. "If you both accept, then we'll need to leave soon to start her training, probably by the week's end." she added as an after-thought.

"Leave?" questioned the clan head, things were starting to fall into place.

"Yes, I dislike starting to train my apprentices within the closed walls of Konoha." she answered, lying through her teeth as the Hyuuga head noted. "If your daughter accepts we'll need to head out on a brief training journey."

'_So that's it.'_ thought the Hyuuga head. _'She's using training the girl as an excuse to accompany the blonde for a period after his exile. Probably to make sure we don't attempt anything on the boy after he leaves. I could easily stop this by denying her request, but then she could just take it to another prospect. But why her? Why risk alerting me and the rest of the council to the truth behind her plans?'_ thought the Hyuuga. Vocally he asked, "Why should I accept this offer?" wondering if she'd catch the true meaning to his question.

Apparently she did. "Because it would be a great asset to the Hyuuga Clan if the heiress and possibly the next clan head was trained by one of the Sannin, particularly the one who's created a technique that would greatly benefit your Clan's specialization." she answered honestly.

'_So that's her game.'_ thought the Hyuuga head maliciously. _'She's trying to improve the girl's chances of becoming clan head, probably to plant a sympathetic voice in the council for the boy's future and possibly give him a chance at returning. She knows the Hyuuga Clan has been after her strength-enhancing techniques since the day she created them. Combining them with the Jūken would make the Hyuuga's taijutsu almost unstoppable. My father even offered her a betrothal contract to me, despite the near twenty year age difference, just for the chance to obtain that jutsu. She thinks that if she teaches the girl those techniques she'll be automatically chosen as clan head so she can disseminate them to the rest of the clan. What the old bat doesn't know is that the Hyuuga bylaws forbid the learning of nonclan jutsu to Main Branch members, unless they're taught by another Hyuuga. All I need to do is wait until she learns the technique, then I can have the girl placed into the Branch Family for breaking that law, and then order her to teach the Main Branch that technique. The proper daughter will become clan head, I'll get to banish that fool girl to the Branch, and the Hyuuga will gain the ultimate taijutsu. All at the cost of lettering her spend a little more time with the fox brat.' _finished Hiashi as a slight smirk split his face. "How long would this 'training journey' take?" asked Hiashi aloud.

The Hokage thought for a moment, "Two, maybe three months, give or take, to teach her the basics of everything." answered the kage honestly, with a slight shrug.

"Very well, I approve of you taking the girl as your apprentice." agreed the Hyuuga clan head.

"I'm glad to hear it. Now we'll probably be leaving by late Friday, early Saturday at the latest. I'll need you to give me some copy scrolls on the advanced style of Jūken, I'll need them to teach Hinata how to incorporate my techniques into the style, as well as continue her training while we're gone." she stated coolly.

"That's fine; I'll have copies of the all the main prepared and have Hinata bring them to your office by Thursday, I'll also have her bring her traveling bags so you can leave whenever you're ready. I assume the scrolls will be safe in your hands?" he asked, usually granting the Jūken scrolls, even mere copies, to anyone not of the clan was frowned on, but given the circumstances, he could arrange something.

"Of course." agreed the Hokage. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd also like to ask you to see that the rest of the council is aware of our departure, to make sure no panic is caused. I believe there's a meeting scheduled for Monday? Just tell them then that the meetings will be postponed for three months or until I return. I've already had a temporary replacement selected to handle any emergencies while I'm gone." she asked with a small smile.

Hiashi returned the smile. He knew what she was asking, to keep it quiet until after they left. She knew that a majority of the council would protest it after her real motivations were revealed, so she needed a messenger on the council to make it known after she was gone. Hiashi now had a reason to keep it quiet since, if they stopped it, he'd lose this chance as well. "Of course Hokage-sama. If you've also reached a decision on the Uzumaki child, I'd be glad to deliver that as well." Hiashi noticed Hinata twitch slightly at the mention of the boy's banishment, but ignored it as a show of the foolish girl's sympathies for the demon whelp. Another reason the girl would never be clan head; he'd be dead long before he let anyone who sympathized with that _creature_ lead his clan.

"Yes." growled out the Sannin, anger clearly defining every aspect of her being. "Despite my grave misgivings and disgust at the council's decision, I see no way to avoid it and am forced to agree. If that's all Hiashi-san, there are a few things I need to discuss with your daughter in private before we can be ready to leave. I'm sure you have other duties to perform, not to mention those scrolls to prepare." finished the Sannin.

"Very well." agreed Hiashi as he stood to leave, before the man turned an icy gaze to his eldest daughter, "Do not disappoint your new sensei Hinata, and don't bring any further disgrace to the Hyuuga clan." he ordered before turning and walking the door.

Giving the Hyuuga head a few moments to vacate the tower, Tsunade activated the privacy seals so she can speak privately with her newest apprentice.

"Do you think the pompous ass bought it?" asked Tsunade.

"I-I think so, Tsunade-shishou." answered Hinata, while she worked to keep her stutter under control. "I-I'm not a master at reading others like many of my clan, b-but I know my father and his actions were sincere."

"Any reason to believe he was trying to deceive you?" asked Shizune.

Hinata quickly shook her head. "F-Father doubts my abilities to read anyone, h-he wouldn't waste the efforts attempting to deceive a f-failure l-like m-me." she whispered the last part as her stutter grew worse and she looked away.

Tsunade's expression softened, "Hinata, you're not a failure. Kurenai knows that, and I know it as well. Now only you need to believe it." she said encouragingly to the girl.

The girl managed a small smile at her new sensei. "Thank you, Shishou." she managed to whisper without stuttering, before she asked, "Um Shishou, what was the point of all that?"

"It was mainly a delaying tactic. Once the council finds out we're gone and we don't intend to come back they're going to try something, no matter what decrees I make. This buys us some time to get clear of Konoha and start training before they try anything." answered the elder blonde.

"B-But why my father, surely one of the other councilors would have been easier to manipulate?" asked Hinata.

"Not really." replied Tsunade, "I knew exactly what Hiashi would want, my strength-enhancing technique. The entire Hyuuga clan has been after it since I first created it when I was younger. They've tried everything from ordering, to bargaining, to blackmail and threats in an attempt to get it. Hell, your grandfather even offered me a marriage contract with Hiashi in an attempt to get me to fork it over. All of it gave me a rich bed of experience and tricks for dealing with the Hyuuga Clan. The most important trick is to never lie, but to tell to the truth in a way that gets you what you want, and their all-seeing eyes will blind them. The Byakugan lets them tell if someone is lying by reading their body language, but they tend to forget that the truth can be a lot more deceptive than a thousand lies when told in the right way." she finished with a dark smirk, getting nods of approval from both present apprentices.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_(1 Days Later, 3 Days before departure, Hokages Office)_

Tsunade was sitting in her office drinking a cup of tea, ignoring the paperwork that was slowly accumulating for the moment. She'd just completed the next stage of her plan, hiring and sending a messenger ninja to deliver a message directly from her to the Fire Daimyo, with a request to retrieve his response and bring it back to her in all possible haste. The messenger ninja were specifically trained to make sure that no one but the intended recipient received the package, no matter what their position or place, and were some of the swiftest shinobi to be found. Most Daimyos understood the messenger ninja's role and allowed them in their presence without having to go through aids. The messenger ninja were noncombatants, taking strict vows to never raise a hand unless in the defense of their delivery. Any who broke those vows and misused their position, any other ninja who assumed a messenger ninja's identity for their own gains, or anyone who tried to use the messenger nin as tools for assassination, were swiftly and ruthlessly eliminated.

The message had contained a large report on what had happened in Konoha, and a vague description of her plans, along with some of her decrees. Tsunade and Jiraiya had worked tirelessly for hours planning and writing the message, wording it just so to give the Fire Daimyo all the information he needed on the situation without giving away too many details on the plan. She was especially proud of how she'd worded the council's demands to her, giving it a clear description of how the council had not only usurped her authority, but also used his name as if _he_ was their tool. That would hopefully aggravate the Daimyo enough to get him to agree with the minor requests she'd sent him, mostly approvals for some of the more politically heavy drafts she sent to him. Nothing to do now but wait and hope it worked. It would be another day at least before the messenger returned from the capital. Even if this stage didn't work it would only cause some minor setbacks, and Konoha may be able to respond slightly faster to the plan, giving them some more problems down the road.

To be honest, the plan was mostly completed, now all she had to do was wait for the Fire Daimyo's response and wrap up a few more details. Then she'd initiate the final phase, and it would be time to go. As Tsunade contently sipped her tea, the sudden sound of her office doors slamming open caused her to look up. Standing in her doorway was the irate form of one Sakura Haruno. Tsunade arched an eyebrow at the pink-haired fangirl "Any particular reason you're barging into my office Haruno?" she asked in annoyed voice, a slight glare settling across her vision.

The young Haruno stomped forward, anger present on all her features. For a brief moment Tsunade thought she'd misjudged the girl and she was angered about her teammate's banishment. The rumors had been made official by a public announcement from the council earlier today. Sadly those brief hopes for the pink-haired kunoichi's redemption burst into flames when the young girl growled, "I understand you've made that Hyuuga bitch your second apprentice?"

'_Not exactly you pink-haired failure of a kunoichi, Naruto's my second apprentice and Hinata's third.'_ thought the Sannin before she actually answered, "I don't see how that's any business of yours Haruno."

The Haruno glared began to shriek wildly. "I refuse to allow that! I'm supposed to be your next apprentice! I demand you remove that pale-eyed slut from her position and have her arrested for assaulting me!" came the ear-splitting shrieks of rage.

Tsunade was really starting to get annoyed. "First of all, you have no right to demand who I make my apprentice. Second of all, your mother already tried to press charges against Hinata and they were thrown out because five of the six witnesses present testified that she only attacked you to prevent you from attacking a fellow Konoha shinobi, and the sixth witness's testimony was thrown out since he received severe blunt-force trauma to most of his body shortly afterwards." answered the Sannin shortly, leaving out the fact that she was the one who caused said trauma. "You should be counting your blessings that you're not in jail right now because of it, something I could change very quickly if you don't leave now." growled out the Sannin

Sakura, either out of ignorance or arrogance, ignored the blatant threat. "That's not the point. I'm the heiress to the Haruno clan, and I have the best chakra-control of all the kunoichi in the village. I'm much better suited as your apprentice than that bitch." she responded forcefully.

"While I won't deny you have excellent chakra control," growled out the Sannin, "you lack something that I view as necessary to become my apprentice. If you still wish to become a medic nin, then I'd advise you to go to the hospital and apply for classes."

"What could I lack that that little wall-flower actually has!" shrieked out the enraged Haruno.

Tsunade glared at the Haruno once again. "Loyalty." growled out the Sannin. "She stood up for one of her fellow shinobi, despite her shy nature, while you attacked one, your own teammate no less." she finished with a snarl.

"_Hmmph_" snorted the kunoichi. "Is that what this is about, that I attacked that blonde baka you seem to care about? Why do you even care? That baka of a blonde is nothing compared to Sasuke. I need this training to get stronger so I can help Sasuke-kun and prove to him that I'm strong enough to be his wife. That baka deserves to be banished for hurting Sasuke-kun." she finished as if she had stated an irrefutable fact. Her formerly smug expression melted into one of pure panic as she felt an intense surge of killing intent directed directly at her from the blonde Hokage sitting at her desk.

"Now listen here you pink-haired excuse for a kunoichi." hissed out the Sannin as she openly glared at the Haruno who stood paralyzed in front of her. "I may have been forced to listen as your bitch of a mother and the rest of the council banished Naruto, but I will not sit idly by and let a pathetic weakling like you insult him. Now you have two options leave through the door now, or I'll throw you out the window."

It seems that the combination of killing intent and the look in the Hokage's eyes actually managed to get through the girl's oversized forehead and the girl left at a run.

_**X**_

_(Same day, Konoha hospital)_

Hinata was at the happiest she'd been in a long time. The plan was going well and if Tsunade's predictions were right, she'd be leaving the village, not to mention her oppressive family, alongside Naruto-kun in just three more days. It had hurt a little lying to Kurenai-sensei and Shino about her leaving for only a brief period, but she hoped they'd understand when the truth came out. She was now in the hospital to deliver the news to her final teammate.

As she opened the door to the correct room, she walked in and greeted, "Hello, Kiba-san."

"Hey Hinata-chan, how you doing." greeted the dog-wielder, as he looked up from his bed. Akamaru looked up from his resting place on Kiba's stomach and gave her a short bark of greeting before lying back down.

"F-Fine Kiba-san." ignoring the open familiarity Kiba had used. She never used –kun when talking to Kiba, worried that it would give the boy some false hope or indication that he may have started to earn her affections. While she was flattered by Kiba's constant attention, her heart belonged to only one person. Shino had understood this, but Kiba was a bit too stubborn. "I-I actually came to tell you something. I-I've been named Tsunade's newest apprentice and am g-going to be departing with her on a s-short training journey by the week's end." she lied with the briefest of stutters, Tsunade's worm words over the past few days had greatly helped her. While a terrible liar by Hyuuga standards, on normal standards Hinata could be considered a master of the craft, one of the benefits of being part of a clan that could tell that you were lying by the smallest twitch.

"That's great news." shouted Kiba excitedly, 'Hey, you should let me take you out on a date later to celebrate." he finished with a large grin.

Hinata sighed inwardly, the boy just couldn't get it through his head that she wasn't interested. "I'm sorry K-Kiba-san, but I have a lot of p-packing and preparations to do since we're leaving s-so soon." she answered.

Kiba's good mood soured instantly, "Hinata," he said solemnly, "I know you have a huge crush on Naruto."

That actually surprised her; Hinata had always assumed that Kiba had been too dense to notice. "I-If you k-knew, why d-did you constantly a-ask me out?" she asked, her stutter growing slightly as she became more embarrassed.

"Because I'm ten time better than that dobe." answered Kiba arrogantly.

Now the dog boy was beginning to get on Hinata's nerves. Ever since the Sakura Incident, Hinata had found her temper shortening when it came to people insulting her crush. Maybe, the stress and anger that day had brought on had affected her mind, or maybe she'd just snapped. Hinata honestly didn't care either way. "E-Excuse me?" she questioned.

"Come on I'm twice the guy that dobe is. I'm a clan heir, a future member of the ruling body of Konoha. He's just a no-name orphan, an idiot, and a screw-up who can't even bring back the Uchiha without causing trouble. I thought that the council banishing him would have finally gotten through to you how much better-." Kiba's tirade was suddenly and violently cut off as Hinata slapped him across the face. The force of the slap caused his head and neck to arch violently to the side.

Kiba was stunned, Hinata had never gotten mad, let alone acted violently, towards anyone before. Rubbing his stinging cheek he turned to look at the shy, mousy girl. He was quite surprised to find the young Hyuuga glaring daggers at him.

"Now listen to me well Kiba Inuzuka." growled out the girl. "Naruto-kun is twice the man you'll ever be. He's kind, considerate, and would never mock someone who did their best. If you think that for one moment that him being banished is going to let you replace him in my heart then you're sorely mistaken. I could never care for someone who'd use another's misfortune like that, especially the misfortune of someone who once considered them a friend. Goodbye Inuzuka-san, you can consider this meeting the end of our friendship." she finished coldly, never stuttering once thanks to her anger. With her piece said the Hyuuga heir turned and marched away.

Kiba stared after her, mouth slightly agape, hand still rubbing his stinging cheek. Slowly shock turned to anger and the young Inuzuka growled lightly. "Just you wait Hinata. I don't care what it takes, I'll make you mine, even if I have to force you." growled out the Inuzuka heir.

_****_

**END CHAPTER 5**

**Know it's taking a while but the next chapter will be the final part of the Preparations Arc.**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	6. Two Kunoichi, Decisions and Memories

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

1**JAYSEN**: Thank you, and I'm glad you approve of Hinata's first steps on her path to true growth.

2**raw666**: While that could be useful for plot advancement, I have other plans for Kiba's eventual downfall, besides he's stuck in that bed for at least a few more days, long enough for departure. Plus, I doubt the council would allow it and it would interfere with Tsunade's plans for departure and escape.

3**VanillaIce1**: Agreed, and I have to admit those are some interesting ideas, but you'll have to wait and see what comes next.

4**dragoon109**: To be honest, it's for plot development, and you have to admit Kiba's a jerk at times. I put my full reason for bashing him, among others, on my profile page, but to sum it up, he serves as a good anti-Naruto, the same impulsive hotheadedness without the strong moral fiber that makes Naruto a hero.

5**KayAGoldsiv87**: Yes, those two will be among the threats that face our band of heroes on their journeys, along with many others that will rear their heads as time passes.

6**Yamamato**: That would have been nice, but why end it so quickly, make them suffer first, then lop off their heads.

7**TigrezzTail**: 3) Thanks, I designed the bloodline so it wouldn't be too powerful at the start, but with the potential to get a lot stronger as the story progresses. Yes the council will suffer under the annoyance that is the Super Pervert, particularly since his mission is to be as annoying as possible to distract the council from Tsunade. 4) Thanks, I believe it was a good way to circumvent the law without outright breaking it. Yeah, the whole idea is pretty Naruto-ish isn't it? Shikamaru may be a lazy bum, but he's a _loyal_ lazy bum. 5) Good observation, but I will never allow a rape to occur in one of my fics, I despise it above nearly any other crime. It may be _attempted_, but never fulfilled.

8**geetac**: Glad you enjoyed it.

9**werd me**: Alright, alright, here's some more.

10**notgonnasay09**: Thank you, I've read a lot of the MHC stories myself, and to hear someone say that is very touching, and I thank you for all the praise you have given me.

11**solitare**: To put it simply? It would end the story way too quickly, and the particulars of the challenge were pretty specific. I have read a one-shot or two that actually did that, but they were pretty short and not all that interesting.

12**Jarjaxle**: Thanks, and here's the next chapter. I have no intention of abandoning any of my stories. The worst I'll do is put one on hiatus if I lose inspiration.

13**UMMX**: Kiba's fate was sealed the moment he bad-mouthed our hero, he will fall, both heads removed. To be honest I've never been good with OCs can't really sustain them well over more than a single story arc.

14**bandsecurityaw**: Thanks, hope you continue to enjoy.

15**granasaber master**: Thanks, that truly means a lot to me. I've actually got a Raven contract situated for another new fic I'm still planning, but you never know.

16**pyro357**: Updating now.

17**DoggyPaddle**: Thanks, and we'll see.

18**Trinity Fenton-Phantom**: Thanks, and I intend to do both.

19**FreedomZero**: Yup!

20**ShadowCub**: Patience young cub, all good things come to those who wait.

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**Chapter 6: Two Kunoichi: Decisions and Memories**

_(Hokage's Office, 2 Days before Departure)_

Tsunade sat smirking behind her desk.

She had been less than pleased yesterday after Hinata had reported what had happened between her and Kiba yesterday. The dog-user could become an obstacle in the future, but luckily the boy's injuries were serious enough that he wouldn't be out of his hospital bed until after they had left. But today was a good day. Why? Because her messenger had just returned from the capital with her folder, sealed with the Fire Daimyo's seal, and a letter from the Fire Daimyo himself. After receiving the letter and paying the messenger-nin, she inquired if he or another messenger would be within the area in the next couple days to handle another delivery. The messenger had stated that he would indeed be in the area for a few more days if no new missions came up and asked about her request. Tsunade gave him a brief description, and the messenger-nin had given her an acknowledgement that the mission would be acceptable and a quick price estimate. Tsunade had thanked him and requested that either he or another messenger be in her office at 7 pm two days from now. The messenger had nodded and given the woman a formal salute before disappearing.

Now the Slug Sannin was reading the response from the Fire Daimyo and couldn't help but smirk. It seems that the message she and Jiraiya had sent had worked perfectly. Amidst the standard political babble Tsunade could clearly read the signs of annoyance and disapproval toward the council's actions in the Daimyo's letter. Granted the man was probably angrier that the council had dared to usurp his name and authority, even if it was done in such a subtle and roundabout way, than he was about any mistreatment on Naruto's part. Still, the man had given his approval on all the documents she'd sent him, stating that they all had his full backing, along with his assurance that any other papers she sent him, within reason, would also have his approval.

Tsunade's couldn't help but let her smirk grow at that part. The man probably hadn't fully understood what he'd agreed to. Most Daimyos usually had a strict policy of noninterference with their shinobi villages. It was a way to ensure that any damages or enemies that the village makes in the course of completing a mission wouldn't harm the entire country. In exchange, for their level of independence from the Daimyo's control the village agreed to follow the Daimyo's orders without question, so when the Daimyo did get involved in village politics he had the absolute authority. Granted there were shows to display the unity between the Daimyo and the village to ensure that everyone thought they were working in perfect unity, like how the Daimyo had a say in the promotions during the Chūnin exam, but in reality it was mostly just for show.

In truth the Daimyo had little to no active knowledge about the day-to-day running of the village. Though that was probably for the best, even the smallest ninja village was a hotbed for politics and intrigue, a place filled with enough faction-forming, alliances, betrayals, and positioning on a daily basis that it could outdo several smaller nations in the sheer size and amount of political intrigue it generated, and that was just inner-village politics and not all the spies and agents from other villages and factions. The Fire Daimyo, or any Daimyo for that matter, already had to deal with a great deal of political intrigue in their own courts, adding in what he'd have to face if he was directly involved with the politics of one of the largest hidden villages, which was filled with more political intrigue than most nations, and the man would quickly be driven mad. So most of the Daimyos gave the villages their space and relied on the Kages, who were selected through a Daimyo's approval and only retained power with their approval, and any agents they placed within the village to protect their interests. Granted the system wasn't perfect, but it was probably the best system available without driving all the bureaucrats involved completely mad.

That was probably what had gotten the Daimyo to offer his support to Tsunade so readily for some of the political-heavy drafts she sent. The man didn't understand how the village's politics flowed or which factions he would be offending. For example, the Fire Daimyo was probably only vaguely aware of the Hyūga Clan's cursed seal, probably only knowing of its existence and how it worked. He probably didn't even realize that the draft was directly designed to outlaw that seal in particular. Tsunade briefly wondered if the man would have agreed if he did understand, from the way the man's letter read out he thought the seals described in the letter constituted some form of slavery and was vehemently against their use. She quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought; it didn't matter now that she already had the man's approval.

After looking through the approved documents she went back to her previous task, looking through the files on several other possible applicants for apprenticeship. Tsunade wanted to obtain a few more sets of hands before she left, hopefully two if she could find some decent applicants. The reason was quite simple; she wanted a full four-shinobi team. Both she and Shizune would be acting as active instructors for the group, but she wanted the squad she was hoping to form to be able to act without their interference or support. Shizune had brought her a number of files within the criteria she'd set: Genin-ranked, to ensure that they were still young enough to not be too deeply mired in village politics, non-Kyuubi orphans or similar status, to ensure fewer links to the village and a lack of resentment to Naruto, and preferably kunoichi, due to naturally higher chakra control.

Unfortunately, that narrowed the list down a bit too far.

There was currently only a dozen files on her desk, and the ones she'd already looked through were killing her hopes of getting even a single other apprentice. Most of the girls listed in the files were either completely useless, Academy fangirls that had somehow managed to graduate, or lacked the characteristics she was looking for. Tsunade had only gotten through half of them and she was ready to quit and get a drink when Shizune's voice came in over the intercom.

"Tsunade-sama, there's a Miss Tenten here who wishes to see you."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow in recognition of the name. Looking over the half of the files she still hadn't gotten to reading yet, she found the same name. Guessing that there probably weren't two girls with the same strange name, she quickly replied over the intercom, "Tell her that she can come in if she's willing to wait a few minutes." she ordered as she picked up the file.

There was a moment of silence before Shizune responded, "She's more than willing to wait, Tsunade-sama."

Opening the girl's file Tsunade quickly did a brief scan through on all the data she had on the girl. She was a war orphan, having lost her father in the last war and her mother due to complications in child-birth. She was at least a moderately skilled kunoichi, trained in a variety of weapons techniques. Her chakra control was slightly above average, which was normal for a kunoichi, but not at an extraordinary level, though she did show some promise given her skilled manipulation of several dozen thrown weapons using ninja wire, a task that would require impressive control in order to charge and manipulate so many wires at once, during the Chūnin Exam preliminaries was worth any note. However it was the girl's psyche profile that caught Tsunade's attention. The girl had a naturally high sense of curiosity and a very pragmatic and logical mind, not to mention a profound distaste for weakness. She also appeared to have a strong desire to prove that kunoichi were capable of equaling any male shinobi and had a slight case of idol-worship when it came to her.

Normally Tsunade found idolization, particularly of her, annoying at best and dangerous at worst, since it could easily blind someone to their idol's faults, but this time she could make an exception. The girl showed all the right markers that she needed for a good apprentice. Added to that the girl had prior interactions with Naruto during the Chūnin Exams, granted the interaction was limited but it could be used to see about the girl's feelings about the boy. Reaching out, Tsunade pressed the button on her intercom and announced, "You can send her in now Shizune."

"Hai." confirmed Shizune and a few moments later the large doors to the Hokage's office opened and Tenten stepped inside.

"Tenten was it?" asked Tsunade, getting a slightly nervous nod from the bun-haired girl. "Well then Tenten, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.

Tenten was nervous, strike that she was beyond nervous. She was standing in front of her idol, the legendary Slug Sannin, Tsunade Senju, and she was about to ask a question that could result in a major shitstorm depending on the woman's views. "I was wondering if there was any truth to the rumors going around the village that Naruto-san was being banished?" stated the girl mustering as much confidence as she could.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the question. "And what, pray tell, is your reasoning for this question? From what I've read your contact with Naruto has been minimal at best." responded the Sanin.

Tenten gulped. "Well, the guy's helped out both my teammates a lot. First he helped Neji get the stick pulled out of his ass, and then he convinced you to come back to Konoha and help heal Lee's injuries. I just feel…I don't know, that I owe the guy for all the help he's given my teammates." answered Tenten confusedly as she rubbed the back of her head.

Tsunade had to suppress the small grin that wanted to break out on her face at the girl's answer. It was a good response that showed at least a small amount of respect for the gaki. "I'm saddened to report that the rumors you've been hearing are indeed true. Against my wishes the council has acted to banish Naruto Uzumaki from Konoha." she finished coldly, letting some of her distaste for the council's decision become known.

This immediately caught Tenten's attention. "If you're so against it, why is it still happening?" questioned the girl, her natural curiosity getting the better of her.

"The _honorable_ council offered me a choice." responded Tsunade. "Either I agree to banish Naruto from Konoha or they would head to the Fire Daimyo with a large number of trumped-up charges in order to have the boy executed." finished Tsunade her distaste showing in her voice.

Tenten was really getting curious now. "Why?" she asked curiously. "What do they all have against Naruto?" she asked.

Tsunade thought for a moment on how to reply to this question. Shikamaru was already planning on telling the rest of the Genin the truth anyway after she and her group made their little escape. It couldn't hurt to spread the news a little early as long as she made sure the girl couldn't spread it herself. "Well Tenten-san, the truth behind that is an S-class secret, with openly telling it being a crime punishable by death. However, I doubt that it will remain in place for long after Naruto's banishment. So as long as I have your assurances to keep it until the law has been revoked, I see no issue in sharing it with you now. Do you understand me so far Tenten-san?"

Tenten rapidly nodded her head, her own innate curiosity growing out of control.

"Good, but first a little demonstration to get the point across." agreed Tsunade as she pulled out a sealing scroll and a kunai from her desk. Holding up the scroll she asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a scroll with a basic storage seal." answered Tenten. She'd studied the basics of sealing when she was in the academy and understood the basic principles enough to use storage and explosive seals extensively in her combat style

"Right and this?" questioned Tsunade holding up the kunai.

"A kunai?" answered Tenten, not sure where this was going

"Correct again." agreed Tsunade, before she placed the kunai on the storage seal and channeled some chakra to seal away the weapon. Holding the now sealed kunai and scroll up she asked a final question, "And this?"

"A scroll with a kunai sealed in it." stated Tenten calmly. She was starting to get annoyed. _'What does all this have to do with Naruto's big secret?'_ she mentally questioned in annoyance.

"Are you sure it's not the kunai itself?" asked a smirking Tsunade.

"Yes." stated Tenten in a slight annoyed fashion. "That's one of the basic rules of storage seals and Fūinjutsu in general, 'A seal cannot change the basic nature of an object.'" she quoted from the sealing textbook she'd first read.

"Congratulations Tenten, you've just proven yourself smarter than the vast majority of this village." stated Tsunade with a large smile.

"Huh?" questioned the girl intelligently.

"You see Tenten approximately fifteen years ago…" Tsunade gave the girl the brief rundown on everything that happened. The Kyuubi being sealed into Naruto. The Fourth's dying wish. The village's blatant refusal to accept said dying wish. All the way up to the recent Sasuke Retrieval mission and the recent results. The only things she kept quiet were her own plans and Naruto's new abilities.

Tenten's mind was completely blown at the revelation. "B-but that's impossible! What you just told me violates everything Konoha has ever stood for. Naruto's never earned that kind of treatment, no one has, just for having to act as a living storage scroll for a monster like the Kyuubi!" exclaimed Tenten.

Tsunade smile grew another inch or two hidden behind her folded hands. "Those are my thoughts exactly Tenten-san, and the reason behind a recent decision of mine." stated the woman warmly.

"What decision?" questioned Tenten curiously, as Tsunade stood and stared out the room's large windows.

"I'm leaving Konoha." she stated bluntly getting a soft gasp from the girl behind her. "The village that my Grandfather and Great Uncle tried so hard to nurture and grow has become nothing more than a rotten husk. I've seen a lot of stupidity from Konoha in all my life, but what they're doing to Naruto is the final straw. In a few days I intend to cut all my ties with this village and leave beside Naruto," she turned around and looked at the girl sitting in front of her, "and I'd like you to come along." she finished with a slight smirk.

"W-what?" asked Tenten.

"What I'm offering you is a position as my fourth apprentice. A chance to study under me, and learn things you probably could never learn under Konoha's current regime. Shizune has already filled the role of my first apprentice for most of her life, Naruto's number two, and another young lady has already accepted my offer to become number three." answered Tsunade.

"I-I don't know…" Tenten's voice trailed off. On one hand this was like a dream come true. She was being offered the chance to study under one of the greatest kunoichi of all times, and all she would have to do…is abandon her home.

"I'm not expecting you to answer straight away; I'd actually be disappointed if you did. You have friends in the village, and it's been your home for your entire life. But I want you to consider this; after learning what you have, does this village deserve your loyalty? A village that would turn on one of its own for no other reason then what he contains? As I said before you don't have to answer now, but I intend to leave soon. I'd like your answer by early Friday at the latest." she finished.

Tenten nodded her head slowly at this before getting up and bowing before turning and heading out the door. After several moments Tsunade activated her intercom and asked Shizune to come in. The younger woman was in the office a moment later.

"I want you to keep an eye on Tenten-san. The girl seems sympathetic to our cause, but I don't want to risk her telling the council. Just keep an eye on her and if she lets anything slip to anyone less than trustworthy, knock them both out until after our date of departure." she instructed.

"Hai Tsunade-sama." agreed Shizune before she departed.

Sitting back down at her desk Tsunade began to look through the remaining five folders. Maybe she'd get lucky and find another potential diamond in the rough.

_**XXXXXXXXXXX**_

_(Hyūga Mansion, 2 Days before Departure)_

Hinata Hyūga was currently in her parents' room, particularly the large closet inside her parent's room. She had already finished packing most of her things; she couldn't bring everything so as not to raise suspicions but the girl had managed to acquire most of her most important possessions: her favorite jacket, her book of pressed flowers, and several photographs. Most of the photos were of her and her team, though most of those now had a large hole where Kiba used to stand, but two others stood out. The first was a class photo from her time at the academy where she finally got a chance to stand next to Naruto. The picture itself was zoomed in to just show a ten year old her and Naruto standing side by side. The other one was a photo of her family, her father with the same disapproving look on his face while Hinata and Hanabi stood to either side. It was looking over those photos that she realized she had nothing to remember her mother by, and so she had mustered up enough courage to ask her father if it was okay to take something of her mother's from their room to help her remember her during her journey.

Hiashi had been less than pleased about it, muttering something about 'useless sentimentality,' but had bid her to do as she wished as long as she was out of his room and ready to depart for the Hokage's Tower within two hours. The man had just finished gathering the necessary copies of the Main Family's Jūken scrolls earlier the same day. It had taken more than a little persuasion on his part to get the Hyūga elders to agree to allow copies of the scrolls to be made, but in the end Hiashi had convinced them that the benefits far outweighed the risks on this endeavor. A few hours ago he had told Hinata that she'd be departing for the Hokage's Tower to meet her new teacher this evening. She would be staying with the Hokage until she returned to the Leaf after completing her training journey.

Hinata had to look away at the mentioning of her 'training journey' to make sure she didn't give anything away, hiding it as a way to not meet her father's cold gaze, and heading off to her parent's bedroom. Now she stood in the closet of the large barren room, hoping that her father had stowed something of her mother's in the back after she'd died. Hiashi had always been a cold man who refused to dwell on the past. When both his brother and wife died the man had all traces of them removed from his rooms in the Hyūga Compound.

As Hinata continued her search into the very back of the rather extensive closet, she came across something strange. As she moved through the closet a particular floorboard gave a soft creak. It was barely audible, but Hinata's training as a shinobi-scout under Kurenai had sharpened the girl's hearing enough to notice it quite clearly. Most would dismiss this, thinking it nothing more than a loose-floorboard, but Hinata knew that the Hyūga Clan were perfectionists in maintaining their Clan Compound and they'd never allow such a thing to exist in their maintenance if it wasn't intentional.

Activating her Byakugan, Hinata studied the errant floorboard. From her perspective nothing appeared wrong, nothing that would warrant the wood to release such a noise. That explained why the squeaky board had never been discovered. The Hyūga relied heavily on their Byakugan in all parts of their lives including home maintenance. If the Byakugan said there was no reason for the board to squeak then the board didn't squeak, that was the Hyūga way of thinking.

Curiosity growing Hinata applied pressure to the errant floorboard and once again heard the soft squeak. The odd part was that the sound didn't seem to originate from the movement of the board, since she'd barely touched it, but from the board itself. Hinata got down on her knees with her Byakugan still active as she studied the board in greater detail. At first it appeared to be nothing more than a normal floorboard, and then Hinata noticed something. Two of the edges were smoother and slightly indented, almost like handles It wasn't really clear, and could easily be passed off as just a natural groove in the wooden paneling, but combined with the intended squeak it spoke to one thing alone: a hidden compartment.

Focusing her dōjutsu Hinata tried to pierce the offending wooden board and found…nothing, just another part of the empty understructure of the Hyūga manor. She was just about to release her dōjutsu and give up when something caught her attention, a spider's web. The small little web seemed to start in the middle of a nearby floorboard, and stretch beneath the squeaking board, only the edges of the web beneath the board seemed to connect to nothing. Normally it wasn't something even a Hyūga's advance sight would notice unless they were studying that particular section of flooring, but it was enough for Hinata to confirm that something was wrong.

So with as much delicacy as she could muster the timid Hyūga gripped the rim and lifted the board. It, surprisingly, came up with barely any effort on Hinata's part. Laying the board on its back next to her, Hinata noticed a small engraving in the center of the wood. _'A seal? To make that noise without any cause?'_ mentally questioned the young Hyūga. Turning her attention back to the new hole in the floor; Hinata's breath caught in her throat.

Resting at the bottom of the hole, supporting the small spider-web, was a box. It was deep purple in color and barely large enough to contain more than a single, large scroll. Engraved across its surface in bright, silvery ink were several dozen symbols, the seals that blocked the Byakugan from noticing the box. But it wasn't the box itself or the seals that caused the young Hyūga's breath to catch, but the words delicately traced into the box's top, 'To my Little Sunshine.' The nickname her mother used to call her when she was just a little girl. (_**AN**__: Hinata means a 'Sunny Place'_)

"Okaa-san." whispered Hinata as tears filled her eyes. Shaking her head to push away the tears Hinata hid the small box into folds of her jacket, before replacing the board and leaving the closet and heading toward her own room. She didn't want anyone to find out she had it, couldn't let anyone know she'd found it. Her mother had taken pains to hide the box away from the prying eyes of the Hyūga clan. Whatever was on it, she didn't want anyone else to find. If they did they would take it away from her, prevent her from having this last fragment of her beloved mother. She _would not_ allow that to happen.

Finally arriving back at her room Hinata opened the door and slipped inside, taking the box out of her jacket as she opened the traveling bag holding all her clothes and other important items. Gently Hinata arranged her contents, until she slipped the small box in a corner before using several small items to keep it from moving. Anyone looking inside with the Byakugan would see nothing unusual, just a girl's bag filled with neatly stacked clothing and a few photos tucked in a corner, the box's seals blocking it from view, while its position would never show it. Granted all someone had to do was open the bag to find the box, but no one in the Hyūga clan would be rude enough to do that, they'd just quietly scan it with their Byakugan.

She so wanted to see whatever was in the box now, but knew she couldn't risk it, couldn't risk her father noticing and taking it away from her. So she sat and waited. Once she arrived at the Hokage's tower she could look.

A little over an hour later her father arrived. Standing up off her bed Hinata placed her bag over her shoulder and walked forward, her face an empty mask, though the Hyūga head noticed some hints of anticipation on the girl's face, but passed them off as the fool girl being excited about her training journey. "Did you find anything of your mother's?" he asked completely calm, a perfect mask of Hyūga stoicism.

"N-No Father." spoke Hinata looking down. Hiashi though it was a show of shame or disappointment, while it was really nothing more than a way to avoid meeting her father's gaze. While his daughter's gaze was averted, Hiashi quickly activated his Byakugan to scan the girl's bag to make sure she hadn't taken anything she shouldn't have. Standard Hyūga procedure, not to mention paranoia.

"A shame." he stated coldly, though his voice spoke of no such remorse. "Kō will escort you to the Hokage's Tower." He then held up a small satchel filled with scrolls. "These are the scrolls the Hokage requested. I hope you'll ensure that nothing happens to them." he stated without any confidence in his voice.

"O-of course Father, I'll see they are p-promptly delivered to Tsunade-s-shishou's hands." she stated nervously, though more nervous of her father catching her than disappointing the cold man.

"Good." he stated, before turning and promptly leaving the girl behind, without as much as a proper goodbye.

Hinata let out a soft sigh before taking up both the satchel and her bag and departing the Hyūga mansion, perhaps for the final time.

_****_

_(Konoha Training Grounds, Day before Departure)_

The light of the sun was just beginning to touch the forests and field of Konoha's training ground. Normally the rising sun would find the fields empty of all but the most ardent trainees, but one particular training ground had a sole occupant. A young brown-haired kunoichi who was currently hacking at several training dummies with a katana. Tenten hadn't been able to sleep the night before, the truth behind Naruto and Tsunade's offer burning in her brain. So as the sun rose, she did what Gai had told them to do whenever they were confused or unsure of something…Train. It was surprisingly good advice; the calm repetitive motions of her training exercises helped her focus her mind so she could think more clearly.

As she trained her mind turned over the recent events that had transpired and the decision she now had to face. The truth about how Naruto had been treated disgusted and angered the young kunoichi on an almost instinctive nature. Konoha was a village that was supposed to be based on unity, acceptance, and teamwork. And yet Naruto's only crime was having the bad luck to be born on the wrong day and being chosen to save the village, and he was treated like the plague or worse. Tenten highly doubted Tsunade had given her the whole story about Naruto's mistreatment, but she doubted any of it would put Konoha in a better light. It was just so…so…Wrong! Konoha wasn't supposed to be like that! It was supposed to be a place where everyone got the same chances no matter what their circumstances!

Thoughts of Naruto then began to lead to thoughts of Tsunade's offer. Tenten couldn't say that the offer wasn't tempting…if she was being completely honest it was nearly irresistible. Here was an opportunity she'd, literally, dreamed about for years, a chance to study under _the_ greatest kunoichi to ever come out of the Leaf Village. Tenten could barely imagine the things the woman would be able to teach her, the things she could learn under the tutelage of one of the Sannin. It all seemed like something right out of one of her dreams.

But…but it wasn't a dream, and even the best bargain had a price, and in this case it was her loyalty to the village. Tenten was a pragmatic girl and, despite her high opinion of the village, knew that the Leaf had its share of problems. She'd grown up on her own, one of many war orphans born in the chaos of the Third Great Shinobi War, and like most had entered the shinobi academy in hopes of bettering her lot in life. As she had grown up she'd found a passion for shinobi work, for the sense of power and control the training offered her, something her earlier life had sorely lacked. Even after learning how far the Leaf seemed to have fallen from its lofty standards and ideals, the village was still the only place she'd ever really called home. It was where she'd grown up, where she'd gotten her first part-time job in the Academy helping out at a local weapon shop, where she'd learned the skills that made her the kunoichi she was today. Added to that was her team who, despite her rather vehement denials, she had come to view almost as family over the past couple years they'd been together.

A part of her was screaming to go to Tsunade to take the offer, while another wanted her to tell someone about what was happening before it hurt the village, and a third was telling her to let it happen without getting involved. Tenten sighed, _'I could really use some advice about now.'_ she mentally prayed.

As if answering her mental plea, Maito Gai made his appearance in front of her; scaring the girl enough to cause her to leap backward and ready her katana in a defensive stance before noticing his identity. "Yosh Tenten, my youthful, little student! Your Flames of Youth must surely be burning brightly to bring you out here so early in the morning." exclaimed the ever-energetic Jounin giving her his patented 'nice guy pose' complete with gleaming teeth, despite his back facing the rising son.

"Damn it Gai-sensei, would you stop sneaking up on me like that!" snapped Tenten before she remembered her earlier thoughts and decided to get some advice. Despite her teacher's odd habits and poor fashion-sense, Tenten did respect the man a great deal. "Uh, sensei? Do you mind if I ask you for some advice...some _private_ advice?"

Gai quickly noticed his usually fiery student's sudden confusion and quickly went from crazed-goofball mode to serious-sensei mode. "Of course Tenten, I hope you know you can ask me about anything and I will keep it in strictest confidence." he stated seriously.

Tenten smiled slightly at that. While a complete oddball, Gai-sensei did know how to be serious when it really mattered. "Well, ever since I got back to the village, I've been hearing these rumors about the Sasuke Retrieval mission and how Naruto-san is being banished." she started.

Gai nodded and frowned slightly at that. Like most Jounin he'd been briefed on the retrieval mission, and was most displeased. He was actually quite fond of the young Uzumaki, seeing him as a strong-willed, hard-working, and youthful young man, in addition to being grateful for his help in both opening young Neji's eyes to his unyouthful beliefs about fate and his hatred toward the main branch of the Hyūga clan, and his aid in finding and convincing Tsunade-sama to return to the Leaf to help heal youthful Lee. In Gai's mind he, along with the remainder of his team, owed the boy a great debt. He personally planned on having a long and painful 'discussion' with his former, unyouthful rival Kakashi after he was released from hospital.

"Well I guess my curiosity got the better of me and I went to Tsunade-sama to hopefully get some answers and I…I got them, but they weren't what I was hoping for." stated Tenten looking away.

"What kind of answers?" asked Gai.

"I-I learned about It." noting Gai's curious look. "You know…what's sealed inside Naruto." she stated uncomfortably.

Gai's eyebrows seemed to merge with his hair for a moment at that comment, before he calmed himself down and asked, "And your opinion of young Naruto hasn't changed I hope?"

"NO!" exclaimed Tenten angrily before calming down. "The only thing Naruto's done wrong was having the bad luck to be born on the wrong day." she stated hotly.

A smile soon made itself known on Gai's face as he reached out and patted his student's head affectionately. "I'm most glad you feel that way Tenten, and I wish your opinion was shared by the rest of the village."

Tenten smiled a little at that, before her face fell, "Well that's not what's bothering me, at least not all of it. You see, I told Tsunade-sama my opinion on the matter and she seemed pleased with it. Then she…she offered me an apprenticeship under her." she blurted out.

"What's the problem with that Tenten? I believed such a thing would make you incredibly happy. To be an apprentice under Tsunade-sama was a youthful dream of yours wasn't it?" asked a slightly confused Gai.

"It…it is, but Tsunade-sama told me that if I agreed I'd have to…to…" Tenten tried to say it all, but couldn't knowing that saying it outright would betray Tsunade's trust in her. Deciding a partial truth was better than an outright lie Tenten finished, "…leave the village for a long time."

"I…I see." stated Gai calmly. Despite popular belief Gai was no idiot. Granted the man was no Nara, but a man didn't survive it to Jounin and make it through all the tough scrapes he'd been through without at least some brain power. He knew Tenten and even if it meant leaving her team and home for a time she would gladly accept, even if she'd be a bit depressed about it. No, this was deeper than that, and it didn't take Gai long to figure out what it was. The only reason that he could see Tenten having so much division over leaving the village…was if she knew that they had no intention of coming back.

This put Gai at a quandary. He knew that Tsunade would take drastic action when hearing of young Naruto's banishment, hell he half expected her to slaughter the entire council and go on a rampage after hearing it, but this was a surprise. For Tsunade, the granddaughter of the village's founder and current leader, to willingly sever all ties to Konoha…it was almost unthinkable. Gai understood her motives though. Everyone who heard of the mission knew, though many denied it, that it was Naruto who convinced the woman to come back to Konoha and accept the mantle of Hokage. With the same boy being banished Tsunade's reason for returning, and perhaps staying, left with him. The real quandary was what to advise his student to do.

After several minutes of thought Gai let out a small sigh before speaking. "I believe…it would be for the best if you accepted Tsunade-sama's offer. I will admit that I haven't been the best teacher for you…" he started.

Tenten instantly looked up at the man. "But Gai-sensei that's…" she started only for Gai's finger to come up.

"Please let me finish Tenten. I know I haven't been able to teach you as much as either Lee or Neji, and that I tend to focus a lot of extra training time on Lee, but I have always been proud to call you my student. I know full well what this means, and I say that you should because I believe it's what would be best for you. It has long been your dream to become a superior young kunoichi, one that could surpass any shinobi, and by training with Tsunade you will get that chance. I know Lee, myself, and even Neji will miss you dearly, but you need…no you must chase your dreams with all the fires that burn within you, no matter where they lead you! All I ask is that you stay true to your dream and to yourself no matter where you go and you will have made me proud to have once been your sensei!" He finished, happily returning to his good guy pose with a roaring inferno forming behind him.

Tenten quickly wiped a few tears away before muttering. "Thanks Gai-sensei." before embracing the spandex-wearing nut-ball she proudly called sensei in a quick hug, before turning around and heading toward the Hokage's tower.

She had a Sannin to see and an apprenticeship offer to accept.

Gai watched her walk off with a proud smile on his face, before he turned slightly and said. "You can come out now Shizune-san." he stated in a friendly tone.

Shizune quickly dropped out of a nearby tree. "I'm glad to hear we have your support Gai-san." stated Shizune calmly.

"Yes, while I personally don't agree with abandoning the village just yet, not until I'm sure its flames of youth have been fully extinguished, I can understand Tsunade's reasoning. Besides, it would be very unyouthful to have a Hokage forced to retain her position." stated Gai calmly.

Shizune nodded her head as she leapt off to meet her newest fellow apprentice as she arrived at the tower.

Hopefully, Tenten wouldn't find her perspective sensei passed out drunk on her desk. That would really damage the teacher-apprentice relationship and respect a little too early.

_(Hokage's Mansion, Day before Departure.)_

Hinata sat in a chair, nervous tension pulsing through most of her body, early in the morning at the Hokage's Mansion. Kō had escorted her to the Hokage's office yesterday evening and they had arrived just as Tsunade was preparing to leave for the evening. Tsunade had greeted the two of them as they arrived and took the scrolls into her possession before dismissing Hinata's escort. As the newly minted master and apprentice walked toward the Hokage's Manor, Hinata explained to her new mentor about the scroll-box she'd found and who she believed it was from. When they'd arrived Tsunade had given the box a thorough examination, making sure there were no traps or other nasty surprises hidden among the anti-detection seals. The only other seal she found was a blood-seal near the base of the box, keyed to a specific person's blood in order to unlock it. By the end of the examination it was getting late and Tsunade suggested they both get some sleep before opening it in the morning. Hinata had protested at first, but eventually Tsunade managed to convince her and the two had went to sleep, Hinata taking one of the guest rooms while Tsunade took her usual room.

Now morning had come and Hinata sat in the center of the Mansion's main sitting room. In front of her, resting on a desk, was the box. Tsunade stood on the other side of the desk, ready to make sure that nothing went wrong and that there were no extra surprises hidden inside.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata bit one of her fingers just enough to draw blood before wiping the now bloody digit across the location of the blood-seal that Tsunade had found. As her blood touched the seal the box began to glow a light, iridescent blue for the briefest of moments before it quickly stopped. Hinata noticed the formerly silvery seals covering the box were now only a dull gray. Hinata looked up at her teacher in a questioning manner.

Tsunade quickly examined the seals before explaining. "It was part of the seal design. It seems that when the blood-seal was activated by the correct blood it deactivated and neutralized the anti-detection seals placed on the box. You're very lucky you didn't open this at the Hyūga manor or Hiashi would have noticed it for sure."

Hinata nodded her head, glad she'd had the foresight to not open the box right away and control her curiosity. Taking another deep breath, the girl gently lifted the lid of the boxed and set it aside before looking inside. Inside she found three items. The first was a scroll, not extremely thick, but definitely thicker than normal. The paper was stark white and slightly thicker than normal, typical for a training scroll since they usually had to survive some degree of wear and tear, and it was sealed closed with a single wax seal. The seal was made of dark purple wax and engraved with the mark of the sun. Hinata's eyes instantly widened as she recognized her mother, Hikari's (_**AN**__: Hikari means radiance i.e. the sun_) personal seal. Lying next to the scroll was a letter, with only the word_ 'Hinata'_ written on the front and sealed closed with the same purple sun seal. But it was the third object that caught Hinata's attention. A single photograph showing a beautiful woman with a slightly swollen stomach and long, dark purple hair framing her face holding up a little girl with dark blue hair, no older than four or five, so that their cheeks were rubbing together as they laughed.

Hinata choked back the sob that threatened to escape her as she stared at the picture. She remembered the day it was taken, one of the last happy memories she truly had in the Hyūga manor, just before her mother became ill, and, nearly six months later, died a month after giving birth to her sister Hanabi. Tears started to leak out of the young Hyūga's eyes as she gently picked up the picture and cradled it against her chest. "Okaa-san" she managed to sob out between tears. She then felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see her new master standing over her with a gentle reassuring smile on her lips. Hinata quickly tried to wipe away the tears. "I'm sorry shishō, I shouldn't have…" she was cut off as Tsunade placed a finger against her lips to silence her.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of Hinata-chan. Crying over the memories of lost loved ones isn't a sign of weakness but a sign of still being human." she stated gently, before she developed a slightly far-away look and added. "I still cry at times when I remember Dan and Nawaki." she breathed out softly.

Hinata let her tears fall freely for a few moments after that before she sniffed a little and looked up at her new sensei. "Thank you shishō." she whispered.

Tsunade smiled at the young girl before looking at the letter. She gave Hinata a look, and the young girl nodded her head in understanding. Tsunade gently reached out and took the letter and placed it on the desk before running through a set of handseals. At the end of the seals her hand started to glow a gentle, light blue as she ran it over the letter. It was a basic detection jutsu, used to scan for seals and other chakra-based traps on objects. It was a basic jutsu, but required precise chakra control to be truly effective. Finishing her examination of the letter she gave Hinata a nod signaling the letter was clear.

Hinata took in another deep, shaky breath before she gently lifted up the letter and removed the wax seal on the back. She slowly opened the letter and let her eyes scan over the words written in the soft, precise script of her mother's handwriting.

_To my dearest little flower Hinata,_

_If you're reading this letter then I've left this world for the next. I'm so sorry for leaving you so soon my little Hinata, but know that wherever I am now, I will be watching over you. I hope this letter finds you safe and happy, but I fear for the worst. Your father has been acting strangely since his brother's death, trying to erase all the memories of him from the Hyūga manor and I fear with my poor health and your sister on the way, I may not have much time left, and if that happens I don't want your father to erase this one final memory of me from you so I've decided to hide it where I hope he'll never find it and you just may. I remembered how much you loved hiding in the back of our closet when we played Hide and Seek together when you were so small, so I thought it would be the best place for you to find it._

_Your father, he has never been the most sentimental man in the world, but he treated me well and I hope he's done the same to you, but with his brother's death he's become so much colder, as if a part of his soul died with Hizashi, and I'm starting to become scared. Scared that the man I loved is starting to fade away and is being replaced with an icy shell of what the Elders say is a 'Proper Hyūga.' And I'm scared for you my little one. You are so much like me, with a gentle heart that despises seeing others in pain. I fear what would happen to you if Hiashi loses what warmth he has and you fall victim to the machination of him and those bastard elders. I hope and pray that it doesn't, but I fear._

_Inside the scroll stored with this letter is my own personal style of Jūken, if you continue to grow into someone like me this style will favor you more than the Hyūga's traditional Jūken style will. Be safe, be strong, and be free, my Little Sunshine._

_Love,_

_Your devoted and loving mother, Hikari Hyūga._

This time Hinata didn't even try to stop the tears and sobs that left her body. Tsunade just stood by her side and let her new apprentice get it out of her system, sometimes a person just needed a good cry to let everything up. While her apprentice cried, she gently lifted the scroll from the box and used the same jutsu to examine it, just in case, and found nothing amiss. Several minutes later Hinata's tears ceased and she looked at the scroll her mother had left for her, a new and strong fire blazing in her eyes.

'_I will mother, I promise I will.'_ mentally vowed the young Hyūga girl as reached out and opened the scroll.

"Hinata, I've got to head to the Hokage's Office to finish some things up. Remember we're meeting in my office at 9 o'clock." she reminded her newest her apprentice.

Hinata nodded her head, her eyes never leaving the scroll her mother had left her.

_****_

_(Hokage's Tower, 8pm, 4 hours before Departure)_

"So you understand your instructions?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes ma'am." answered the messenger-nin standing in front of her. "I am to deliver these papers," he said holding up an envelope that contained the papers officiating Tenten's placement as her fourth apprentice, "to the Fire Daimyo. If the Daimyo doesn't approve all the papers in this envelope then I'm to immediately find and report to Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin and deliver everything to him and await further orders. If he does approve of everything then I am to add the approved papers to this envelope," he held up a letter holding copies of all the signed decrees, complete with the Daimyo's seal of approval, the originals she had stored in a safe in the office, locked so only Tsunade and Jiraiya could open it, "before returning to Konoha and awaiting the next full council meeting that happens after the one this Monday. When that time arrives I am to read this letter." he said holding up a small hand-written letter stamped with the Hokage's seal, "aloud to the entirety of the council before opening the envelope and handing out the paper for the council to view. Is that correct, Tsunade-sama?" finished the messenger with a slight huff. The mission was a complicated one, but Tsunade had been more than willing to pay the full price of the mission. She had even paid the full asking price at the beginning in full, along with a small bonus in case any complications arise.

"Perfect." she agreed nodding her head. "You're dismissed." she finished with a wave of her hand, and the messenger was gone in a blur of speed.

Several minutes later the door opened and three of her four apprentices entered the room, Shizune walking with the same steady grace as always, Tenten slightly nervous, and Hinata with a new purpose in her stride. The four were going to meet Naruto at the Northern gate in a few hours, but first there was one last piece of official piece of business to take care of.

"First I've got some good news. Hinata Hyūga and Tenten please step forward." the two young kunoichi did as instructed. "It is my pleasure to announce you both are promoted to the rank of Chūnin on my authority as Hokage, congratulations." she stated warmly while handing both their new flak jackets.

"Thank you Tsunade-shishō." intoned both girls as they put on their new jackets. Hinata removed her thick jacket before slipping on her new flak one over her fishnet shirt before replacing her thicker one. Tenten merely put it on over her shirt, though she left hers unzipped.

Giving a nod to the two younger of her three female apprentices Tsunade spoke again, "Now onto more serious matters." Tsunade said seriously as she reached into the pocket of her pants and drew out her old Leaf Hitai-ate.

"The hitai-ate is the symbol of a person's loyalty and connection to their village." she started seriously. "To draw one's blade across the symbol is to sever all connections one has with the village. To discard it is to discard one's loyalties and the village itself." Taking out a kunai knife she spoke gravely. "I can no longer tolerate the actions of the Leaf Village against one of the people I hold precious. With this I renounce all that binds me to the Leaf." With a quick slash, Tsunade drew a straight line across the leaf symbol with her kunai. "With this I am no longer Tsunade of the Leaf, I am Tsunade Senju, wandering shinobi." she finished as she let the slashed forehead protector drop onto the desk.

Shizune stepped up to the desk and pulled out her own hitai-ate. "The Leaf has lost its will and its strength. The Will of Fire that once burned here has long guttered out save a few small sparks. With this I renounce all that binds me to the Leaf." she stated harshly, drawing out her own kunai and slashing it across the headband. "With this I am no longer Shizune of the Leaf, I am Shizune, wandering shinobi." she finished as she let her headband drop next to her teacher's.

Hinata was the next to step forward. She slowly removed the headband wrapped around her neck. "The Leaf and t-those who dwell within it have long lost their way. T-The home of the Hyūga clan is no longer the h-home of a family, but a prison f-for those who dwell within it. With this I renounce all that binds me to the Leaf." breathed out Hinata as she took her own kunai and slashed her headband. "With this I am no longer Hinata Hyūga of the Leaf, I am Hinata, wandering shinobi." and she too dropped her forehead protector onto the desk.

Tenten was the last to step forward; it took her a few minutes of slow deep breaths before she could remove the hitai-ate wrapped around her forehead. "The….The Leaf has lost sight of the values that once guided it and made it the village it was. It is no longer the village that I swore my loyalty to." Taking a deep breath she took out a kunai with a now shaky hand. "With….With this I renounce all that binds me to the Leaf." her shaking hand took several minute but in the end she slashed across the forehead protector, though the line was far from smooth. "With this I am no longer Tenten of the Leaf…I am Tenten, wandering shinobi." she finished as she slowly let the headband fall.

Tsunade nodded to her three apprentices as she rose out of her seat and lead her them out of the room. Once outside she went through a quick set of hand seals before activating the seal she and Jiraiya had placed on the room and all its entrances. With the seal active not even a fly could enter the Hokage's office, and it would only be unlocked when either she or Jiraiya gave the proper counter signs with willing intent to release it.

Turning to her apprentices, the now former Hokage spoke up, "All right everyone, let's go meet the last member of our merry band and get our asses gone." she ordered.

_****_

_**End Chapter 6**_

_**AN: Sorry for the delay everyone, but I got wrapped up in a couple of other stories. Hope everyone likes the progression and end to the Preparations arc. I honestly didn't expect it to lung this long, over nine thousand words, I think that's a personal best for me.**_

_**READ AND REVIEW!**_


	7. Team Hokage Departs

**The Missing Hokage: Rise of the ****Shōkan-ō**

**REVIEW RESPONSE:**

**chm01**: Yes this is a harem, but I won't tell who exactly is in it just yet.

**shushinking**: not sure just yet, and telling would ruin the surprise

_Seimaka_: Why a fish?

**the DragonBard**: Yes all of Team 7 (sans our hero) will be bashed. I'm usually not a hardcore basher, but I just wanted to try it with this one. Sakura-bashing is pretty common factor in MH fics, mostly because it fits so well with the idea.

**DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles**: Thanks, and yes I'm boosting Naruto's brain a bit. He's no genius and will still be missing some info, which will allow me to explain how things work in the ninja world, but he'll at least have an average brain.

_blah_: Not sure yet.

_**Thanks to everyone else for reading and reviewing.**_

"Normal Speech"

'_Normal Thought'_

"**Demon Speech"**

'_**Demon Thought'**_

**Jutsu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other media.**

**Chapter 7: Team Hokage Departs**

_(Night of Departure: Midnight)_

Naruto sat on top of a rooftop near the outskirts of the village, the northern gate within easy sight from his perch. Naruto shook his head as he studied the gate. Just a week ago he'd left it at a run, hoping to save his teammate and 'brother.' The blonde had to snort at that thought. Sasuke was no brother. Brothers don't ram lightning-covered hands through your chest _TWICE_! Naruto absently rubbed a hand over the right side of his chest, right over his lung, where a rather large scar now rested. Even with Kyuubi's and Baa-chan's help the wound had been too severe and open too long for it to heal without leaving a scar. Naruto didn't much care about the scar; any ninja worth the title had at least a few of them, but what it represented still rang through his head. It was like that blow had actually killed him, since his old life was now over and dead. He was banished from his home, never allowed to set foot in Konoha again under penalty of death.

Thoughts of his, now over, life turned his mind back to his former team. Seeing what they'd done to him, Kakashi leaving him to die just to help Sasuke and Sakura trying to kick his head in, had shocked and hurt the blonde in a nearly indescribable way. Sure Kakashi hadn't been the best teacher, only really showing him the tree-walking exercise and passing him off to Ebisu during the Chūnin Exams, but he'd always thought the bastard had at least cared for him. And Sakura…Sakura was a whole other story. He had liked the girl for as long back as he could remember, but those words she'd yelled at him, how she'd willingly disregarded his own life for hurting Sasuke, who'd nearly killed him…it all really showed how little the pink-haired fangirl cared for him. It hurt him a lot…but it also pissed him off to no level. After everything he'd done, after all the hard work he'd put in just to earn his place, to protect this village, _THIS_ was the thanks he got, a boot to the ass?

There's an old saying that goes something like, 'anger can be both the heart's truest medicine and greatest poison, for it burns through all other emotions both good and ill.' Right now that was proving true enough for the blonde Jinchuuriki, his rage over his betrayal by his teammates, his sensei, and the village as a whole had quickly burned away a lot of the depression he'd felt when Baa-chan had given him the news. Sadly, rage and anger didn't wipe away all the hurts, leaving the blonde a mix of sad, hurt, angry and just plain confused. At the end, the blonde just wanted to leave, to put all of the things that had happened behind him, to start over.

The past week in the hospital had been one of the most boring weeks of his life. He'd spent most of his time in his mindscape, studying under Kyuubi. The fox didn't know a lot of ninja lore, never being a ninja itself and having little interest in human affairs. Still the creature had managed to teach him a bit, mostly stuff like language, math, and similar topics along with any other subjects the fox had managed to pick up in its life. Surprisingly, the millennia old fox-demon didn't know a lot about _human_ history, claiming to have no care for how humans had interpreted the passage of years and the activities they wasted their lives in, only knowing a few small snip-its.

After Baa-chan had left he'd only had one other group of visitors. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon had all come to see him, having been escorted there by one of the Anbu Baa-chan trusted. The three kids had jumped onto his bed, bawling like babies about him leaving. Naruto had done his best to keep up a strong front for them. Telling them that there was nothing that could be done, he'd asked a final favor from his three young wards. The three kids had tried their best to perk up at their boss's final orders, but the blonde could still remember the tears that seemed ready to spill at the slightest provocation.

His final orders were simple enough: "GIVE THEM HELL!" The infamous prankster prince of Konoha had spent the remainder of their visit, which took up most of that day, instructing his young wards in the fine arts of the prankster, giving them the tools they needed to complete their mission. Konohamaru took the scroll that Naruto had handed him, saying it had a few tricks to help them in the pursuit of their final mission and help the young Sarutobi to fulfill his dream. At the end, Naruto had wrapped the three kids in a hug and made them promise to be strong for him, getting choked sobs of agreement from all three.

Now he was sitting on the roof of a building, waiting just like Shizune had told him. The blonde hadn't been told any details, just that he was supposed to meet them on top of this building at midnight tonight. Shizune had said that Tsunade would explain everything when they arrived, and the blonde had believed her. Baa-chan and Shizune were two of only a handful of people that Naruto knew without a doubt cared for him. He'd seen what Baa-chan had been ready to do to Kakashi for abandoning him, and the blonde had never felt more grateful to another person before.

So the blonde sat and waited. _'Man this is so boring.'_ mentally complained the blonde as he practiced deactivating and reactivating his Yōkogan. It was actually surprisingly easy, just channel a bit of chakra to the back of your eyes and *_pop_* activated dōjutsu. Granted it had taken nearly a week of constant practice to be able to do it without getting a major headache from channeling too much, the fox said that some clans had handseals to properly manage the shift. He also had to close his eyes when he activated them. The sudden shift in visual awareness would daze him otherwise. It was the same reason Sharingan users usually did the same; only someone with a lot of practice could activate them with their eyes open and not get stunned by the mental feedback from the sudden shift. Whenever he activated them his eyes would shift, narrowing and turning dark red with a slit pupil (_**AN: Think his eyes when he uses the Kyuubi's chakra**_) before shifting back into their normal cerulean blue as he deactivated them. The blonde really liked his bloodline; all the tricks that Kyuubi had shown him with it had galvanized the blonde's desire to actually test and improve it.

"**Oh would you stop your complaining kit. You need to learn a little patience or you're going to end up getting the both of us killed early."** snapped the fox through their mental link. Spending nearly three months together in his mindscape, really only a week in real time, had allowed the two to truly feel out the other, and they'd developed a kind of love-hate relationship. Kyuubi thought of Naruto as an immature little monkey that lacked his demonic dignity, but still had enough guts and a strong enough will to earn the fox's respect. Naruto saw the fox as a massive, hotheaded pervert that was a lot of fun to mock but had enough brains and power to be worth listening to. In other words, a giant, red, and furry version of Ero-Sennin.

"_I can't help it. I'm bored, and I whine when I'm bored. Not to mention I know how much it annoys you and I love it."_ responded the blonde with a smirk.

"**Kit, there are times when I really just want to reach out of this cage, grab your spikey little head, and devour your pathetic little form. If I didn't need you to get my vengeance I'd devour you here and now. I swear I would."** swore the fox. After three months of cohabitation and contact, the demon and its container had developed an odd, love-hate relationship. Kyuubi constantly wanted to devour the blonde for his lack of respect, while Naruto got a constant pleasure from annoying the oversized fuzzy.

"_Sorry fox but you're not my type."_ smirked the blonde in response

"**Feelings mutual kit. Though if it was that busty, blonde Hokage of yours then maybe we could talk." **responded the fox with a perverted giggle.

"_Okay, how many times do we have to go over this? Stop saying things like that about baa-chan! Do you know how disturbing that is? I mean she's old, like really old_.' responded the blonde in disgust, the fox seemed to love using Tsunade-baa-chan as a point of reference for his perverted comments. Sure he'd admit baa-chan was very attractive, especially with that genjutsu, but she was still…well she was Baa-chan.

"**Hmph."** snorted the fox in response, **"Typical foolish gaki, good women are like a fine wine, they only get better with age." **responded the fox sagely.

Before the blonde could reply, he was interrupted by the sound of several people landing on the roof behind him. His hand quickly went to the small of his back where his new tantō, the _Hakkō Chakura Tō_, now rested as he quickly spun around, only for his face to split in a grin as he spotted a set of familiar and friendly faces. Tsunade stood in the center of the group, dressed in the same clothes she'd worn when they'd first met, only with the Hokage hat resting across the back of her head. Shizune was standing behind dressed in the exact same manner as always, Tonton held securely between her arms. The blonde also noticed Hinata and Tenten standing to either side of the two elder women. He couldn't help but notice both were also wearing Chūnin flak jackets.

"Baa-chan, Shizune-chan, Hinata-chan, Tenten-san! It's great to see all of you!" he called out in greeting, giving the group a large grin.

"Oink!"

"Sorry, good to see you to, Tonton-chan." the blonde apologized to the little pig held between Shizune's arms.

"Glad to see you to gaki." stated Tsunade as she affectionately ruffled the blonde teen's hair.

"So what's with the whole, hush-hush, meeting-at-midnight on a rooftop?" questioned the blonde.

"That'll come in a minute gaki, but first I've got some good news." stated Tsunade with a grin before clearing her throat. "Naruto Uzumaki, under my authority as the Godaime Hokage I am proud to promote you to the rank of Chūnin, congratulations." she stated in an authoritative voice while presenting the blonde with a Chūnin flak jacket.

"Sweet!" exclaimed the blonde as he hastily removed his orange jacket before placing the new flak jacket over his black t-shirt, before replacing his orange one.

"Now to more somber business." stated the blonde Hokage sadly. "Naruto Uzumaki please present me you hitai-ate." she ordered.

Naruto looked at her sadly for a moment before nodding his head, knowing this had to be done, and removing his hitai-ate from across his forehead before presenting it to Tsunade.

Tsunade took the hitai-ate with a regretful look, knowing that this would hurt the blonde, before she continued, "It is with a heavy heart that, by the order of the Council of Konoha, I hereby strip you from your place as a Shinobi of _Konohagakure_ (Hidden Leaf Village). You are hereby banished from Konoha, forever banned from setting foot within her walls under penalty of death." with the final dictation she held the headband in both hands and snapped it in half. The destruction of the hitai-ate was a part of the banishment proceedings, a way to visually show the severing of the shinobi from the village.

Naruto kept his head lowered during the entire proceedings. Even after nearly three months of mental preparation, thanks to training in his mindscape, it was still a heavy blow for it to officially happen. The blonde was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost missed it when Tsunade ordered, "Alright, that takes care of the last of the official crap, now lets' get outa' this village."

The blonde's head nearly instantly snapped up at that statement. "W-what do you mean baa-chan?" questioned the stunned blonde.

Tsunade grinned at the younger blonde. "Exactly what I said gaki, we're coming with you." she stated with a grin. "Didn't I tell you earlier, there's no way I'm letting you go through this alone? So I'm coming with you."

"B-But you're the Hokage." sputtered the blonde, "Y-you can't just leave the village."

"Not anymore. I officially turned in the hat with my hitai-ate a couple hours ago. Actually, I'm keeping the hat and just turning the title that goes with it, the thing's actually a family heirloom." remarked the elder blonde smugly as she readjusted said heirloom. Looking down at Naruto's shocked expression; she leaned down and wrapped the blonde in a firm hug. "Don't you remember gaki? The only reason I came back to this village was because of you. With you gone, there's nothing left to hold me here. I'm staying with you until the end and that's all there is to it." she stated warmly.

Naruto couldn't hold it in. Tears began to leak from his eyes as he returned the hug. "T-thanks baa-chan, thanks for everything." sobbed the blonde into her shoulder.

Tsunade merely smiled as she hugged him back. "Anytime gaki, anytime." she whispered. The young blonde reminded her so much of her dear Dan, but she'd also come to see a lot of herself in the hot-headed little blonde. She was sure that if she and Dan had had any children they'd have turned out just like Naruto. And she was just fine with that.

Deciding to end the sweet and mushy moment before she gave everyone a toothache she broke the hug and added jokingly, "Besides I wouldn't be much of a master if I let one of my apprentices get banished without doing anything about it."

"Apprentice?" questioned the younger blonde.

"That's right, you're officially apprentice number two, after Shizune. Hinata's number three and Tenten's four." stated Tsunade with a grin. "Now let's get going!" she stated with an upraised first, getting nods of approval from the three female apprentices and a wet smile and a loud "Hai, baa-sensei." from apprentice number two.

_**~~~~~~ XXXXXXX0XXXXXXX ~~~~~~**_

_(Northern Gate, a few minutes later)_

"Oh man, how'd we get stuck with the graveyard shift?" muttered one of the shinobi sitting at the gate's guard station. After Sasuke's attempted defection gate security at night had gone up. Usually the village relied on Anbu patrols to keep outsiders from sneaking in under the cover of night and no one bothered guarding the gates, since no one in their right mind would try to sneak in through one of the main entrances.

"Just bad luck man, you know how it is." stated his partner before they noticed an approaching figure from within the village. Thinking someone may be trying to repeat the Uchiha's attempt he stood up and shouted, "Who goes there?"

The figure entered the illumination of the gate's primary lamp revealing Shizune. "Hello gentlemen, everything going smoothly tonight?" she asked politely.

"Oh…uh, hai Shizune-sama," replied the standing gate guard respectfully, "nothing to report at the moment, but why are you here?"

Shizune smiled softly and replied. "Tsunade-sama skipped out on a great deal of her paperwork today, so she has to work late tonight to catch up. Since I was up I thought I'd bring you and the rest of the night shift some tea to help you get through the long night." she offered warmly holding up the tray she was carrying which held a number of cups and a large thermos.

"Much appreciated ma'am." responded the guard's partner as he stood up. It was late fall and the nights could get a little cool. Not to mention they needed the energy just to stay awake during the boring shift.

Shizune smiled and poured both men a steaming cup, before turning and leaving, saying she had to deliver more to the other guards while it was still hot.

"That Shizune sure is a sweet girl." muttered one of the guards as he sipped the warm beverage.

"Yeah, the guy who lands her will be a real lucky one." responded his partner around his own cup.

"If he can survive Tsunade-sama's approval." joked his partner as both shared a chuckle.

Five minutes later Team Hokage walked out the gate, leaving both guards fast asleep at their post, courtesy of the sleeping toxin Shizune had slipped into the tea.

"Hey baa-sensei, why'd you have Shizune-neechan knock those two out?" asked Naruto as the small group passed the gate.

Tsunade twitched at the newest nickname her blonde apprentice had given her. "First off gaki, its 'Tsunade-shishō' or at least 'Tsunade-sensei.' I think I've earned that much respect by taking you as an official apprentice." growled the Sannin as she flexed her arm, ready to bop him if he refused.

Naruto gulped. "Hai Tsunade-shishō." he replied

"Good." agreed the Sannin with a smirk, glad to finally get some respect out of the gaki, though quite sure it wouldn't last long. "As for those two, I'd rather keep knowledge of our departure to minimum for now, the last thing we need is some idiot with a grudge coming after us so soon. If everything works out like I planned, the council and the rest of the village won't realize what I've done for at least a couple of months. That should give me enough time to start training you three up." she explained, getting a nod of understanding from her younger apprentices.

As the newly formed team passed through the gates, Tsunade took one final look at the faces of the former Hokages engraved into the side of the mountain. _'Grandfather Hashirama, Granduncle Tobirama, Sensei I'm sorry that this has to happen, but I hope that, wherever you are, you can understand why I'm doing this.'_ she apologized silently as she turned and lead her team out of the gates and away from Konoha for the final time.

If one would look up at the Hokage Faces from the northern gate at that moment, one could almost see sad smiles crossing the faces of the four former Fire Shadows.

_(Several hours later)_

The team had been tree hoping north for hours in near silence as all came to grips with the finality of their departure.

"So Tsunade-shishō, where exactly are we going?" questioned Tenten nervously, attempting to break the ice.

"We're heading for the northern border with _Yu no Kuni_ (Hot Spring Country). Once we cross into Yu territory we'll start heading toward the coast where we'll be able to get a boat for either Nagi or O'uzu Island. There's a family artifact there I'd like to reacquire." explained Tsunade

"The Nidaime's sword?" questioned Naruto, getting an affirmative nod from the former Hokage.

"Wait, you're talking about the _Raijin_ (God of Lightning) sword…the Actual RAIJIN!" exclaimed Tenten, getting nods from both Naruto and Tsunade. The girl shakingly continued. "How do you know that it's there?"

"My _former_ team" growled out the blonde, "and I fought a missing-nin from Konoha who'd joined _Amegakure_ (Hidden Rain Village) after stealing it. The bastard thought the sword made him invincible, but Sasuke-teme and I managed to beat the guy with a combination of his Chidori and my Rasengan. We managed to knock the teme off a cliff, with the Raijin still in hand."

"Then why hasn't the village already sent out a team to retrieve it?" asked a shocked Tenten, horrified that the village would just abandon such a treasure.

"In all honesty, they never got the chance." explained Tsunade. "It was barely more than a day after they returned that Sasuke tried to abandon the village. I hadn't even gotten through the full mission report by then. When I did, I figured the Raijin would be better in my hand, as its rightful inheritor, than the Leaf's."

"But baa-shishō," questioned Naruto, getting an annoyed tick-mark from Tsunade, "if we're heading there, shouldn't we be going south toward _Cha no Kuni_ (Tea Country). It would be a lot quicker than circling around like this."

Tsunade sighed, knowing that 'baa-shishō' was the closest she was going to get to a respectful title from the blonde for the time being, before answering, "The reason's pretty simple. I want to get out of _Hi no Kuni_ (Fire Country), more specifically Konoha territory, as soon as possible. If we went south to the border of Tea, we'd have to stay in Konoha territory for at least a few days, but if we head north and enter Hot Springs territory we'll be out of their official reach by tomorrow evening at the latest."

The blonde nodded his head in understanding before quirking it in confusion. "Hey did you guys hear that?" questioned the blonde as he stopped.

"Hear what?" asked Shizune as she and the rest stopped and listened as well.

"It sounded like someone moaning." answered the blonde quirking his head, "There it is again."

"I didn't hear anything." stated Tenten, as she cupped her own ear.

"N-Naruto's always had sharp ears." stated Hinata.

"Where's it coming from gaki?" questioned Tsunade.

The blonde listened for a minute before vaulting off toward where he thought the sound was coming from, the rest of Team Hokage quickly following behind.

The group quickly came to a large clearing, though it was definitely not a natural one. It looked all the trees in the place had been chopped down and shredded by a massive blade. As the team entered the edge of the clearing, the four female members quickly caught the sound of a low moaning echoing across the field.

"This must be where Shikamaru and Temari fought that Sound kunoichi." stated Tsunade, remembering the reports of that battle. "Someone must have gotten trapped in the fallen trees. Naruto, Hinata, activate your dōjutsu and see if you can find them." ordered the blonde Sannin.

Both teens nodded and activated their respective eyes. "_**Byakugan/Yōkogan**_" shouted the teens. The veins around Hinata's eyes bulged while her pupils became more distinct as she activated her dōjutsu. Naruto's eyes narrowed, turning dark red as his pupils became narrow slits. The two teens quickly began scanning the battlefield; Hinata's eyes searching for a chakra source, while Naruto's switched to thermal vision and searching for signs of human body heat.

"Found her." called the blonde as he indicated a large pile of fallen trees. "She's under there, and she doesn't look so good. Her temperature's lower than it should be."

Tsunade quickly went to work, using her superhuman strength to toss aside the toppled trees like twigs. After removing nearly a half-dozen logs she found her target. It was a young woman, no older than fifteen. Her hair was a pale red in color and, either due to injury or design, flowed wildly around her head. Her face was slightly cute, with a tomboyish appeal, and her eyes were a dark gray-brown. She was wearing a tan tunic, tied in the back with a thick purple rope-belt with an inverted loop, along with black shorts and standard black shinobi sandals. Her clothes were all covered in tears and cuts, along with a good portion of her body, and it looked like both of her legs were broken.

"Hey I remember her, she's one of those sound guys that were escorting Sasuke." exclaimed the blonde.

"Tayuya, of the Sound Four." stated Tsunade, remembering the name from Shikamaru's report.

"How is she still alive? I mean, that fight was nearly a week ago and it doesn't look like she's been moved since." asked Tenten

"My guess would be that curse seal my traitorous teammate came up with. It looks like it forced her into some sort of coma, slowing down her body's functions to keep her alive." stated Tsunade as she began to analyze the girl's wounds. "The question now is what do we do with her? If we just leave her she'll be dead within another day or two." stated Tsunade calmly.

"We can't just let her die." stated Naruto. Even if the girl was partly responsible for what was happening to him, she didn't deserve to be left to die like that.

"Naruto, she's an enemy shinobi." stated Tenten seriously.

"So?" responded the blonde chūnin. "She was just following that damned snake's orders."

"According to Shikamaru's report on his battle with her, she showed at least some signs of reluctance to this mission and following Orochimaru's orders. Given the opportunity she may have some useful information we can use." stated Shizune thoughtfully.

Tsunade nodded her head. "All right, we'll bring her along. Naruto make a couple of clones to carry her. I don't want to stop and rest this close to Konoha. Her wounds, while serious, are stable enough that you should be able to carry her without any difficulties arising. Shizune stay close and do what you can while we're moving. We'll stop at first light and make camp, and then I'll begin to do what I can to help her." Naruto nodded in agreement and produced for Shadow Clones who proceeded to pick the girl up, doing their best to avoid touching or jostling her broken legs.

_**~~~~~~ XXX0XXX ~~~~~~~**_

_(Team Hokage's Camp, Next Morning)_

Tayuya groaned in pain as her body began to awaken. "What the flying fuck hit me?" muttered the redhead.

"Glad to see you're finally awake." came a cheerful voice from in front of her.

Tayuya nearly bolted out of her bed. Friendly voices after awakening from unconsciousness usually meant that either Orochimaru or Kabuto had used you as a guinea pig for an experiment or two. Unfortunately her body didn't respond the way she wanted, so instead of leaping to her feet in a fighting stance she merely lurched off the matt she'd been sleeping on, falling flat onto her face.

"Hey, be careful!" came the same friendly voice, as a form suddenly overshadowed her. "You better take it easy, baa-chan was able to heal the worst of your wounds, but your body's still in pretty rough shape from being in that seal induced coma for nearly a week without food or water." stated the speaker as he gently moved her back onto the mat.

Tayuya let herself be moved as she studied the speaker. Young, probably a year or two younger than her, blonde hair, weird birthmarks on each cheek, and dressed nearly completely in orange. He didn't look like one of Orochimaru's goons, and she could have sworn she'd seen his picture in a file or something before. Then she remembered who he was. "You're one of those little shit-stains that came after us when we were escorting that Uchiha prick." she croaked, her voice dry and raspy. She suddenly realized that her throat felt like the Suna desert.

The blonde looked slightly annoyed by the insult, before grabbing a nearby canteen and offering it to her. "Here, baa-chan said you would probably be really thirsty when you first woke up."

Tayuya immediately grabbed the canteen and began to chug it down, thoughts and fears of poison or drugs overruled by pure, basic need. After draining the canteen she slowed her breathing and used a basic meditation technique to check for effects. Finding nothing wrong she studied her guard for a minute. The kid wore a flak jacket, marking him as Chūnin rank. Not that rank mattered right now, in her state she probably couldn't fight off an Academy student. "So you and your fuck buddies dragging me back to Konoha for interrogation?" she growled.

Naruto gave a sad smirk. "You see a Konoha hitai-ate on me?" he responded, spreading his arms out for study.

She took a moment to examine the blonde for a minute and found none. "What, you turn missing-nin like the little red-eyed fucker?" she questioned.

"No." growled the blonde lowly. "I was banished." he answered shortly.

"They banished you for failing to bring back the prick?" she asked in slight confusion. While highly uncommon, and nearly unheard of in villages like Konoha, banishment for failing to complete a highly important mission wasn't unknown in the shinobi world.

Naruto gave a short, hollow bark of laughter. "No. I brought him back, and I was banished for 'excessive use of force' in the retrieval of said prick." responded the blonde coldly.

Tayuya gave the blonde a curious look, as if trying to determine if he was lying, before snorting. "Man, just who the hell did you piss off and for what?" asked redhead.

"The majority of the village population for just being born." responded the blonde darkly.

That threw the redhead for a brief loop before she finally remembered the file she'd seen the gaki's picture in. Before she and the rest of the Sound Four left, Kabuto had given them a number of files on people to watch out for while in the village. She was surprised to see the blonde's face among the pile. From the records the kid was only a Genin, but he was also a Jinchuuriki. Tayuya was smart enough to know that Jinchuuriki were not exactly a village's favorite person, in fact most were down-right hated for what they contain. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots on this one.

"Sucks to be you huh?" snorted the redhead. Tayuya wasn't exactly the most compassionate person in the world. "So what are you going to do with me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me, but we couldn't just leave you to die out in the forest like that. I think baa-chan may want to ask you a few questions, but after that you can go running back to that snake-loving pedophile if you want."

Tayuya actually snorted at that, both for the insult to her master and another reason. "Kid, I ain't going back to Orochimaru."

"Why not?" asked the blonde curiously

"Because the second I step back in _Oto_ (Sound) he'll either kill me himself or make me wish I was dead for failing to bring back the Uchiha prick. Orochimaru doesn't accept failure, no matter the person or the reasons." stated Tayuya bluntly before she let out a very tired sigh. "Guess I'm nothing more than a broken tool now." she lamented.

Those words had an instant effect on the blonde. In an instant he remembered Haku, one of the first people who truly understood him. He remembered his friend's death and his final words. "Don't you say that." snarled the blonde.

"Huh?" responded Tayuya, unsure of what she'd just said to piss the blonde off.

"We are not tools! We are SHINOBI! We are HUMAN BEINGS!" practically shouted the blonde.

"Damn! What crawled up your ass?" responded Tayuya, a little taken aback by the blonde's outburst.

The blonde just breathed deeply for a few minutes before responding. "Sorry," he grunted, "but a friend of mine said nearly the exact same thing to me before he died. Those words still get to me sometimes. They go against everything I believe in, both as a shinobi and as a human being." answered the blonde honestly. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the blonde came up with an idea. "If you can't go back Rochi-teme, why don't you stay with us?" he offered.

Tayuya just stared at the blonde for a few minutes before she burst out laughing. "Kid," she managed to breathe out between laughs, "I just tried to kill you and now you're offering me a place in your little group? Are you bat-shitting crazy or what?"

The blonde just shrugged. "You said it yourself, you can't go back to Orochimaru or he'll kill you. And I know it wouldn't be safe for you to travel on your own, so why not travel with us?" he responded.

"First off, what's in it for you? What you and your buddies out there want to use me for a fuck-toy?" she growled suspiciously.

It was Naruto's turn to burst into laughter at that. "Sorry," wheezed out the blonde after noticing Tayuya indignant look, "but I'm the only guy in our group, and I'm pretty sure the others would skin me alive if I even thought of doing something like that. As for why, I just want to help you. That and it's always better to have more friends." he answered with a grin.

"Okay." muttered Tayuya a little belatedly. The kid was doing this just to help her? She saw her current situation as one of two options. 1) She'd actually found the nearly extinct 'nice guy,' or 2) The kid was a master liar and manipulator. Given what she'd seen so far, she was willing to bet it was number one, despite how unbelievable that was. Deciding to do a final test she added. "You do know that when Orochimaru realizes I'm still alive he's going to come after me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Snake freak was probably going to come after us sooner or later anyway, what's one more reason. Besides I doubt he'll be so eager to come after us when he knows baa-chan's with us." answered the blonde.

"Who's this 'baa-chan' bitch you keep talking about?" questioned Tayuya, wondering why the Snake Sannin would be nervous about going after her.

"Tsunade of the Sannin." replied the blonde with a broad grin.

'_That would definitely give the snake fucker a reason to avoid the group.'_ mentally agreed a wide-eyed Tayuya. Orochimaru was in pretty bad shape when she and the rest of the Sound Four had left. In that state she doubted he'd want to fight one of his old teammates, particularly one who could crush boulders with a flick of her fingers. With a final shrug, she proclaimed, "Why the fuck not. Not like I've got any better options."__

_**~~~~~~~ XXXXXX0XXXXXXX ~~~~~~~**_

_(Otogakure _(Hidden Sound Village)_, same time)_

Orochimaru sat atop his thrown, his body wrapped in bandages as he recovered from transferring his mind and soul into his newest vessel. The transition always took a great deal out of the Snake Sannin, leaving him unable to even alter his form back to an image of its original greatness for several weeks. Currently, the Snake Sannin was flexing his hands and arms, thrilling at the pleasure of being able to move them once again, pleased to be able to wield his beloved ninjutsu once more. He was disappointed that his minions had not been able to retrieve Sasuke in time for him to take his most desired host. Still, he was an immortal and time was not something he lacked.

Still, the retrieval team, consisting of five of his most powerful minions, was over a week late. This did not bode well, and the Sannin was beginning to grow impatient. He'd sent Kabuto and a secondary team out to search for the squad a few days ago, as soon as the Snake Sannin was able to maintain himself without his second's medical expertise, and now the silver-haired teen had returned, bearing grim tidings.

"Orochimaru-sama" stated Kabuto calmly, "I have bad news. It seems that the retrieval team has failed."

"Explain." hissed the Snake Sannin.

Kabuto took in a deep breath, trying to maintain his calm in the face of the Sannin's wrath. While the hissing voice held no hint of anger, Kabuto had learned long ago how mercurial his master's temper could be. The Snake Sannin was normally a pillar of almost jovial calm, playing with all those around him as if they were toys for his amusement. Unfortunately, the Snake Sannin also had an, almost childish, habit of breaking his toys when they disappointed him or simply ceased to amuse him.

"My team and I followed the path the Sound Four were supposed to use after retrieving Sasuke. We found signs of several battles within a few miles of the border, along with the bodies of most of our shinobi. It appears our team was followed and defeated. We have found the bodies of four of the five shinobi sent after Sasuke, while the last one, _Hokumon no Tayuya_ (Tayuya of the North Gate), has yet to be discovered. We were inspecting the battleground where we believe she fought, but the damage done was quite severe. I doubt she survived, but she could have been taken prisoner. We were unable to complete a scan of the area due to an incoming Konoha patrol. We also found proof that Sasuke also fought and was injured in the confrontation, several samples of his blood were found in the Valley of the End. However the blood samples were small enough that I believe he is probably still alive."

"So Konoha was able to stop my shinobi and prevent me from acquiring Sasuke? Interesting." spoke the Snake Sannin, seeming lost in thought for several minutes before turning his attention back to Kabuto. "Have all our active spies in Konoha look into it. I want to know exactly what happened and who is responsible. Also have them monitor Sasuke; I doubt they'll allow him out of their sights anytime soon, so we'll merely have to be patient. Soon enough we will get the chance to strike again." This was an annoyance, but one that could be dealt with. The only reason for his urgency in retrieving the Uchiha heir before was because of his desire for a new body immediately. Now that that was no longer the case, the Snake Sannin could be patient.

'_After all,'_ thought the Snake Sannin, _'what is time to an immortal like me. Let them keep Sasuke for a little longer, let them increase his strength so my next host we be stronger than before.'_

"As you command Orochimaru-sama." agreed Kabuto, as he turned to leave, only to turn around just before reaching the door. "Oh, there is one final detail, of the five bodies found, two were still alive." he added as he adjusted his glasses.

"Who?" questioned the Sannin curiously.

"_Nanmon no Jirōbō_ (Jirōbō of the South Gate) and___Tōmon no Kidōmaru_ (Kidōmaru of the East Gate)." indicated Kabuto. "I was wondering what we should do with them? Both are heavily injured. Jirōbō has suffered severe blunt force damage and a great deal of internal damage, including a nearly smashed heart, several broken ribs which are now puncturing his lungs, and a ruptured stomach. Kidōmaru seems to have been to have been defeated by a Hyūga, and a rather skilled one at that. His chakra network is severely damaged as well as several of his internal organs and he's only alive due to the curse seal forcefully keeping his chakra circulating. Both are in an extreme amount of physical pain, and are unable to even move properly. I was wondering if we should try and prolong their pain as punishment or simply eliminate them now."

"Hmm." hummed the Snake Sannin, tapping his chin in thought. "Tell me Kabuto, are those new regenerative bath experiments still being worked on?" asked the serpent, referring to one of their more recent experiments.

"Yes." answered Kabuto quickly, as head of medical research, second only to Orochimaru himself, the young medic had to keep a memorized list of all his section's active projects. The experiment his master was referring to was one of his more recent attempts at prolonging the life-spans of his host bodies. The baths were combinations of unique medicines, chemicals, and medical jutsu, all designed to promote cellular growth and regeneration. In theory, the baths, once they were perfected, would allow even the most serious injuries to be healed at a rapid pace, in addition to preventing and restoring the physical degeneration that Orochimaru's hosts went through during his possession. However, the baths were currently ineffective. While restoring damaged tissue effectively, they constantly mutated it in uncontrollable and unpredictable ways. The results were a large number of twisted bodies that could no longer be classified as human, many of which were still alive and in constant pain. Only one in every hundred subjects remained viable and even these usually had mutations of some sort. The remainder, and even some of the survivors, were dissected shortly afterward in an attempt to improve the process.

"Good." cooed the Snake Sennin. "Use them as test subjects for the next batch of experiments attempting to improve the bath's performance. If either one survives they may just prove useful to me in the future, if not…" the Sannin trailed off and made a slight hand gesture, as if it was of no importance.

"Very well." replied the silver-haired medic with a vicious smirk, he didn't envy the two. "And should our spies find that Tayuya is alive and captured?"

"Eliminate her." stated Orochimaru without a moment's hesitation, before a twisted smirk appeared on his face. "And ensure they have fun doing it, failures must be made an example of."

_**~~~~~~~ XXXXXX0XXXXXXX ~~~~~~~**_

_(Team Hokage Campsite, noon)_

The members of Team Hokage were currently eating a quick lunch before starting out again. Their departure had been delayed when Naruto had broached the subject of Tayuya joining the team. After explaining their discussion earlier in the morning, Naruto was now waiting for a response from his new teammates.

"I don't like it." stated Tenten quietly.

"What was that Tenten?" asked Naruto.

"I said I don't like it. How do we know anything she told you was the truth? For all we know she could just be using this as an opportunity to spy on us before betraying us at the first opportunity." responded Tenten hotly.

"Hey!" snapped Tayuya. "What the shit's your problem, bun-fucker?"

"My problem is you're an enemy. You're one of the people who tried to invade Konoha only a month ago and tried to kill us!" growled Tenten.

"I was just following orders, bun-bitch. It's our job as shinobi, whether we like it or not." snarled Tayuya.

Before Tenten could respond, Tsunade stepped in. "That's enough out of both of you." she ordered quickly. "Tenten, what Tayuya said is correct, the shinobi of Oto and Suna were simply following their leader's orders. Relationships between villages and shinobi forces are hardly ever stable, 'Today's enemies could be tomorrow's allies' and vice versa is a common quote among shinobi. It's a sad fact of the shinobi world, but that is how things happen. Holding onto that anger and building grudges against everyone involved will only ensure future conflicts." stated the elder Senju remembering her grandfather's, granduncle's, and sensei's wise words.

Tenten frowned a little at that, but nodded in understanding. "As for you Tayuya-san, your story certainly seems to fit with how my former teammate usually operates. But there is still the issue of trusting you. We do need some assurances that you won't betray us at the first opportunity." stated Tsunade as she started at the redhead.

Tayuya gave her a shrug. "Don't know how in hell I'm going to do that." answered the redhead. "I've got no way of proving that I'm that much of a loyal follower to you fuckers since I'm not. Right now you're my best chance at surviving with Orochimaru after me. No village is likely to take me in since it would likely make them an enemy of Orochimaru and no one wants to have that shithead as an enemy unless they have to, and I've got no way to prove to them I'm not just another spy. If I try it the best I can hope for is a quick death instead of being tortured and interrogated before being killed. Take me with you and I'll pull my weight, that's all I can promise. My loyalty is something that's got to be earned, something Orochi-fucker never understood."

Tsunade gave the younger redhead a level, appraising look before answering. "That's fine. I honestly can't expect you to be instantly loyal to our team; in fact I'd probably be more suspicious if you were. For now having another set of able hands would be pretty useful, and given the circumstances your chances of being a spy are slim to none. However, there are a few rules for you joining."

"Like what?" questioned the redhead cautiously.

"First, you're forbidden from using your curse mark under any circumstances. I've already used _**Fuuja Houin**_ (Evil Sealing Method) to contain it after I was done healing your wounds, but we'll need to find a more permanent method of containment or removal if you want to remain with us over a prolonged period." stated Tsunade.

"That's fine. Never liked the fucking thing anyway, messes with my head too much whenever I used it." responded Tayuya.

"Good, I'd also like to study it more closely while you're with us. Hopefully I'll be able to find a better way to contain it, if not remove it completely." continued Tsunade.

"As long as you don't try to fucking dissect me like that asshole Kabuto, I've got no problems with that." Tayuya replied cautiously

Tsunade smirked. "You don't need to worry about that. While human dissection is a necessary evil at times, it goes against my philosophy to do so to someone who hasn't already died." answered Tsunade calmly, "unless they're trying to hurt me or mine, then I have no problems removing organs on or off the battlefield." she finished with a slightly vicious smirk.

Tayuya gulped nervously at the veiled threat. The woman had basically stated she'd rip her open if she betrayed or hurt any of them. Threats like that are a common factor when it comes to negotiations among shinobi. Shinobi had many roles, but they were warriors first and foremost, and there was no such thing as a defenseless shinobi. So threats and violence were just another tool in the shinobi world and culture, even if many tried to downplay it. It just didn't look good if your customers saw you as nothing more than vicious killers. "Understood." she responded calmly.

"Next you'll need to give us any information you have on Orochimaru and his village. While I don't expect to get everything now, I do want us to have a long talk once everything's settled down a bit." continued Tsunade.

"No problems there, Orochi-fucker's already going to kill me, so I don't see any reason to keep his dirty laundry to myself. I will warn you, I don't know a lot. Orochimaru's a paranoid bastard who doesn't trust anyone farther than he can kill them. What information he gave was usually highly segmented and divided among a dozen people. I was one of the fucker's personal bodyguards and I doubt I know even a tenth of what that fucker does. Hell, I doubt even his little fuck-toy Kabuto knows everything that bastard's got in the oven." answered Tayuya.

"That's to be expected, but anything you can give us could prove useful." agreed Tsunade. "Finally, I want a full briefing of your skills; I want to know just what you're capable of. If I find out you've left something out later, there will be hell to pay."

Tayuya shrugged. "I'm a genjutsu expert." she stated. "Overall, without the curse mark, I'd put myself at mid Chūnin rank, maybe a bit higher. Most of my illusions are sound-based, usually using a flute or some other instrument as a medium. I've got average skills in both taijutsu and ninjutsu, along with some minor _fūinjutsu_ (sealing techniques) training. I was also the strategist for the Sound Four so I've been trained in tactics and planning. I've got decent reserves and speed, though I'll admit physically I was the weakest of the Sound Four, but I was the quickest with handseals."

"What about those creatures you summoned; Shikamaru said you called them _Doki_ (Angry Demons)? Are they a kind of summons, or perhaps one of Orochimaru's experiments?" questioned Shizune curiously.

"My big and uglies?" responded Tayuya, "They're neither."

"Then what are they?" questioned Tenten.

"They're a part of me." explained Tayuya with a shrug. "To be precise they're part of my kekkai genkai."

"You have a kekkai genkai?" questioned Tsunade.

"Yup." agreed Tayuya with a nod. "It's called _Genki_ (Phantom Demons). Basically I can solidify and reinforce my chakra into a solid creature, literally creating my own summons. Its kinda like how normal ninja make clones, only instead of making a copy of me, I'm building something completely new. It takes time and a lot of chakra and effort to create them the first time, but once I've made one, I can create it as easily as a normal ninja uses a regular summons. So far those three are the only ones I've been able to create."

"That's quite an ability." stated Tsunade calmly. "I'm actually surprised Orochimaru didn't use someone like you as either guinea pig to try and figure out how it works or tried to use you as a new host."

"Don't think the fucker didn't think about it." grumbled Tayuya. "The bastard used most of my clan for his little experiments, and even used my own sister for his last vessel. Only the fucker couldn't seem to get our power to work for him. I'm pretty sure the only reason the bastard kept me alive and around was so he could try again if he ever figured the fucking problem out."

"How horrible." stated Hinata, aghast at what the Snake Sannin had done to the other girl's family.

"That's how the bastard operates." growled Tayuya clenching her first. "The only reason I was working for the son-of-snake-bitch was because there were no other options for me. I'm actually pretty glad your fuck buddy and his sand bitch beat me. At least now, even if the bastard comes to kill me, I won't have to deal with him any longer."

"I think that covers everything for now Tayuya. All I can say is welcome to the team." stated Tsunade. "We should probably start getting ready to leave. Everyone start packing up camp, we leave within the next half-hour." ordered the Hokage, getting nods all around. As she stood up with the rest of her team as they started to break camp she called out, "Before we go, I've got a question for you Naruto."

"What's up baa-shishō?" inquired the young blonde.

"I need to know your specialization so I can start planning your training." responded the elder blonde.

"My what?"

"Your specialization…don't tell me Hatake didn't even tell you about that?" When the younger blonde shook his head, Tsunade grabbed her face. "If I ever get my hands on him again I'll…" she muttered to herself before trailing off. She then refocused her gaze on the blonde. "Your specialization is the field of ninja skills you concentrate on, the field where you're at your strongest in."

"But aren't ninja supposed to train all their skills?" questioned the blonde, actually recalling one of Iruka's lectures.

"Yes, but shinobi also have to specialize in order to refine their skills." answered Tsunade as she began her explanation. "Most Genin don't specialize, using their time to feel out their abilities and decide on their specializations. Chūnin are usually specialized in one skill area, but have decent abilities throughout the other fields. Tayuya's actually a good example of a chūnin, she's highly skilled in her specialty, genjutsu, but also has a number of other decent skills to help balance it out. Tenten is a weapon specialist, focusing on improving her skills with a variety of different ninja weapons and tools, but her training has also granted her a level of skill with fūinjutsu and her training under Gai has given her some skill with taijutsu. Hinata is a taijutsu specialist, training in her family's Jūken style, but she also has some skill as a medic and as a scout.

"Jounin usually either have a couple of specialties under their belt or have mastered their own specialties to a level most other shinobi can't compete with. Kakashi is a ninjutsu specialist, but also highly trained in several other ninja arts thanks to his Sharingan and Shizune is a medical specialist, but also highly skilled in the use and manipulations of poisons, making them part of the first category. Lee's sensei, Maito Gai, is a taijutsu specialist and Hinata's former sensei, Kurenai Yūhi, is a genjutsu specialist, and both of them are skilled enough in their respective arts to be able to challenge a Kage in that field alone, making both parts of the secondary category.

"Kage-level shinobi are shinobi who have mastered not only their original specialties, but have gained great skill in several other fields as well. Sarutobi-sensei was a ninjutsu specialist, earning his nickname _Purofessā_ (The Professor) for his knowledge and skill in a variety of ninjutsu, but he was also an incredibly skilled in _bōjutsu_ (staff techniques), taijutsu, fūinjutsu, and working with his summons. Jiraiya and Orochimaru are actually similar in their respective skills, both are ninjutsu specialists, but are also highly skilled in taijutsu and summoning their respective creatures. Jiraiya is also incredibly skilled in fūinjutsu, while Orochimaru is a deadly kenjutsu expert. I'm a medical specialist myself, but am also one of the most feared taijutsu combatants around, have a vast knowledge of ninjutsu, am an expert at using my summons, and am well versed in the art of fūinjutsu." explained Tsunade

"Wow," breathed out Naruto, "but how am I supposed to decide what to specialize in?" asked a now worried blonde. He'd never really thought about stuff like this, only training to improve his skills, never focusing on what skills he particularly favored."

"It's not that hard a decision gaki." answered Tsunade as she comfortingly ruffled the blonde's hair. "Just think about how you fight and you'll find your answer. I don't need an answer right away, but I'd like one before we reach our port in a day or two, since that's when I'll start training you and the others." With that the elder blonde turned and began to help finish preparations for her team's departure, leaving a thoughtful Naruto behind.

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**End Chapter 7**

**Hope Everyone liked what's happening. **

**Did I catch anyone by surprise using Tayuya, I'm actually surprised she's not used more often. **

**After all I've seen a ton where Haku still lives and even some feature Kin, so why not the saucy redhead.**

**We've also seen a tiny bit of the troubles that could come to haunt or team, as well as a closer look into the ninjaverse (at least my version of it)**

**READ AND REVIEW**


	8. REWRITE

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REWRITE

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am restarting two of my fics: The Missing Hokage: Rise of the Shikan-o and Winter Fox. This is due to the new information presented by the chapters of the manga. With this new information I believe I can make either story far superior than it was before. Right now my muse calls me elsewhere, so I will be putting both on hiatus until she gives me the power to return to them and remake them anew, but I vow that in time these two works will be resurrected newer and even better than before THIS I SWEAR!

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